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This post is all about the best credit cards for college students.
Hey guys, everyone knows it’s important to have a good credit score right? We know we need good credit to afford a nice house, buy a nice car, get a fresh apartment. But if you’re just starting out, it can be so hard trying to build up your credit score. (Especially when no one teaches you)
And trust me, I know all about the struggle. I literally took forever to start building credit cause I had no idea what to do. As a result I had a credit score of zero which didn’t make me a good candidate for many things. You might be even worse off if you started getting bad credit from getting into credit card debt.
Whatever your starting point is though, you can def work to build better credit. And it definitely helps to have a good credit card that makes that easy. Thats why I made this post to go through 15 of the best credit cards for college students to build credit to make it easy for you to get a good credit score in no time! I hope you find all of these helpful and more!
This post shows you the best credit cards for college students.
BEST CREDIT CARDS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS
1. Discover It Card
This one is at the top of the list for a reason. I absolutely love it! It’s actually the one I started with and they make it so easy to build up your credit. The cool thing with this one is that it’s secured so you don’t have to already have a high credit score to apply for it.
You just put in your online application, wait a couple weeks, and you will generally get approved that fast for your new credit card. Also they have really reasonable security deposits, you can just put in 200 dollars and have a $200 credit line. Very reasonable and not that tempting.
It’s perfect for students or really anyone starting out, and I highly recommend!
2. Petal 2 Visa Credit Card
Okay, this one’s also pretty high up here cause of the cool features it has. Unlike the Discover one, it’s not secured which means you don’t have to put money down upfront. Instead they look at your banking history to decide whether you qualify or not. But just like the Discover one, you also don’t have to have a crazy high credit score for them to approve you for it.
The best part about this one is that there’s no annual fee and you also get cool rewards like 1.5% cashback on ALL purchases. And 2-10% cash back on select ones. Isn’t that great?
3. Apple Card
Oh guys, I absolutely love Apple. Obviously they make cool phones, laptops, tablets, even watches now. But did y’all know that they actually have their own credit card too? Yes, and it’s pretty perfect for beginners!
Just like the petal one, they offer cool rewards just for using it when you buy stuff. 2% cash back on ALL purchases. And 3% cash back when you buy apple products! How sweet is that.
But what I love about it that makes it great for building credit is the app! It shows you everything in a really easy to understand interface so you can always pay it off on time.
4. Bank Of America Cash Rewards
So I love this one too because it’s so easy to get good rewards without having a super high credit score right away. No, it’s not secured and no they don’t just look at your banking history like the petal one. So you do have to have at least SOME credit to get approved. But once you get it, you will love using this credit card.
And like I said, they have great rewards. 3% cashback on a category that YOU choose. 2% cashback on groceries (which we all buy all the time). And then 1% cashback on everything else. What a nice deal. Usually you only see good rewards on more expensive credit cards but its good to see it here.
Oh and I must mention that they have a $200 cash bonus if you use it to spend $1000 over the first 90 days. If you just use it pay rent alone, thats free money.
5. Chase Freedom Flex Card
Honestly, just by the name alone, you can already tell this one snaps. The “flex” card lol perfect for flexing. No but really this card is so cool and has a ton of cool rewards.
Now this one is a little bit hard to get approved for. Again, not secured. So they wanna see that you at least have some decent credit. But once you get approved for this one, your world will change haha. First we’re talking $200 cash bonus when you only spend $500 in the first 3 months. That’s insane.
And then of course, we have to throw in 5% cash back on groceries (up to 12,000 dollars) in the first year. 5% back in bonus categories. 5% back on travel purchases. 3% back on restaurants. 2% on drug store products. (Now I have an excuse to buy more makeup lol). And 1% on everything else. So bottom line, you def want this card if you can get it lol.
6. Citi Doublecash
Okay now we’re getting into the bigger credit cards where you need to at least have some history to get approved but this one’s still pretty basic. Also, this one is def one that you wanna keep forever. So many cool features and very straight to the point.
The best thing about this one is the cashback rewards, which you could maybe tell by the name. Literally they will give you 2% cashback on ALL purchases at all times of the year. There’s no little slick rules like the 2% only applies to certain purchases or during a certain month. Just straight up 2% which is amazing.
7. Amazon Prime Card
Wow, if you’re like me, you probably shop on Amazon all the time. Buying school supplies, dorm essentials, random stuff. Since we’re making all those online purchases anyway, doesn’t it make way more sense to get some rewards for it?
Thats where the Amazon Prime card comes in. You basically just need to be an Amazon prime member (who isn’t these days) and have okay credit. Then you get 5% cashback on all Amazon purchases. 2% cashback at restaurants, gas stations, and drug stores. And then 1% cashback on everything else.
For someone who spends half the day shopping on Amazon like me, getting 5% back on everything is a steal.
8. Amex Gold Rewards
Now this one is more fringe and I don’t really recommend it for everyday purchases. But if you do a lot of travel (and as a college student, we do), this can be an amazing card for cashback. Of course, I do have to say, it’s not free. With this one you have to pay $250 a year as a fee.
But like I said, if you use the rewards properly (and I mean travel specifically), it pays for itself. When you’re in college, you will likely be traveling back and forth during breaks to go see family, go on trips, etc. Maybe you’re even studying abroad so you need flights for that.
This card has connections with a bunch of airlines so you can literally earn a whopping 8% cashback when you use your points on travel! That’s crazy. So even though its expensive, if you do a bunch of travel, it can def be worth it.
9. Chase Sapphire Reserve
This one is gonna be the hardest one on here to apply for but if you can get it, you will never give it up. Seriously this card has so many rewards. Literally rewards for days. But you will have to pay $550 a year to keep it. Yes, expensive, but thats the only downside.
And you will wanna use this one all the time. The rewards are insane. First 50,000 points when when you spend just $4,000 in the first 90 days. That’s roughly $750 dollars cashback on travel. Then you get a $300 travel credit for when you spend at least $300 on travel a year (my plane ticket alone is more than that!). So basically free money.
Then you also get credits for Door Dash, free 1 year subscription for Lyft, airport lounge access, and so much more! Now this card won’t be good for everyone cause of that $550 annual fee. But if you travel a lot, all the perks will more than make up for it.
10. X1 Credit Card
So this one isn’t even fully out yet but once it is, it seems like it could be pretty cool. Just like the others, its def aimed for beginners but with this one, you do have to have some income. They look at your income and then determine what your credit limit will be.
We really don’t know much details on what the rewards will be. But there are some rumors that’s gonna be a point system. Like 2 points for every dollar you spend etc. And 3 points for every dollar you spend if you pass $15,000 in a year. Then you can total your points up and use them to buy stuff at select stores for free.
Now I’m not the biggest fan of points. I prefer straight up cash back. But if you wanna learn more, you can check out their site and get on the waiting list. Could be cool in the future!
Anyway I really hope this list was helpful for you to find the best credit cards for college students with no credit and really anyone looking to build credit. If you wanna find out how to build good credit in general, I def recommend checking out my post on how to get a good credit score. Everyone says it’s so helpful and it will you show how to go from no credit to a perfect credit score in no time!
