College Students: Enjoy These Student Card Benefits

College can come with a whole host of expenses outside the cost of tuition — from books and rent payments to groceries and gas. In fact, full-time students from public two-year colleges, public four-year universities and private four-year universities spend thousands of dollars beyond their base tuition and fees.

Sure, you could pay for these costs with cash or a debit card, but a student credit card allows you to earn rewards for your spending.

Student credit cards are normal credit cards, but they’re designed for students who are new to credit. They often have no annual fees as well as student-centered cardholder benefits and rewards programs, to boot. Importantly, they also have approval criteria that align with students’ typically lower incomes and new-to-credit status.

If you’ve been on the fence about getting a student credit card, here are some common reasons why you might want one.

Why you may want a student credit card

Let’s say you’re a full-time undergrad student at an in-state public college. In the 2024-2025 academic year, you would have spent an average of $13,310 for room and board plus another $1,290 for books and supplies, according to the 2024 Trends in College Pricing report by CollegeBoard.

The report further details that you would have spent an average of $1,340 on transportation and $2,360 in other expenses. That adds up to a grand total of $18,300 — which doesn’t even include tuition costs. If you’re attending a private university, those numbers are slightly higher.

If used responsibly, student credit cards can help you build your credit history. You’ll need a strong credit history for your future financial goals like buying a car, getting your first apartment or buying a home. So, if you know you have to spend a few grand while you’re at college anyway, you might as well benefit from it by earning rewards and building your credit.

If a student credit card sounds like the right move for you, you’ll want to learn how to choose a student credit card so you can make your decision confidently. We’ve reviewed the best student credit cards out there, and the top contestants have these benefits:

Lower fees

Student credit card issuers know you’re just beginning to learn the ins and outs of credit, so they tend to give you a break on fees. It’s not unusual for typical credit card fees, such as late fees and annual fees, to be low or non-existent on student credit cards. A common reduction, for instance, is $0 for your first late payment and then the full late fee the next time it happens.

Furthermore, there are multiple student cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees, so feel free to carry them along for that study abroad semester or epic spring break adventure.

Credit-building education tools

One of the best things you can do as a student credit card owner is stay on top of your credit profile. The healthy credit habits you develop today can serve you down the road, so anything that promotes this goal is a great asset.

For example, Capital One’s suite of student cards has access to CreditWise, a service that helps you monitor your credit profile with access to Experian and TransUnion credit report change alerts. It can also help protect you from identity fraud with dark web scanning and Social Security number tracking.

College student reward programs

As a student, your spending likely looks different than that of a more experienced credit card user. That’s why student cards often have rewards programs tailored for college students. Most student cards come with a percentage of rewards on common purchases like streaming services, groceries, gas or restaurants. Usually these rewards are in the form of earning cash back, because what college student couldn’t use some extra cash?

As a testament to the rewards that student credit cards can offer, one student, Daniel Kelton, shared how he earned a significant amount of cash back from using his student card strategically while building his credit:

“I’ve earned more than $400 in cash back,” he explains. “I started paying for all my groceries and gas on the card. And I paid it off every month, so I wasn’t racking up interest payments.”

By paying off the balance each month and avoiding interest charges, those rewards went straight to his pocket.

Welcome bonuses

Also known as sign-up bonuses, welcome bonuses on student cards typically come in the form of cash, points or a statement credit once you meet certain spending requirements. Earning a welcome bonus can be an easy way to boost your rewards from the get-go to use toward things like school supplies, dorm essentials or to simply pad your savings.

How one student maximized his credit card

Recent college graduate Daniel Kelton used a student credit card to build his credit after learning that he needed a new car but had no credit history. After getting out of the military and going back to school, he chose to get the Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card and used it for a year to build credit before applying for a car loan.

The bottom line

Student credit cards come with plenty of benefits and perks that could make your life on campus easier. But those benefits can easily be negated if you don’t use your student card responsibly. Developing healthy credit habits should be your priority over earning as many rewards as possible, since interest charges can quickly eat away at any rewards you’ve earned.

Overall, you can use your student credit card to help support your credit-building journey and reach other financial goals. Once you master these concepts with your student credit card, you can apply your good credit management skills to one of the best credit cards on the market.