Best Credit Cards for Students [2023] (Plus: Why You Might Want One)

Do you dream about buying your first home or finding your dream job? If so, having a good credit score increases your chances of achieving these goals. A good credit score not only could help you qualify for a loan and land a job, but it can also help you save money and qualify for the best interest rates.

Building credit at an early age can help ease the financial transition from the life of a student into an adult lifestyle. Your credit plays a big role in your financial health and well-being — and credit cards can play a key role in helping you build that credit.

So, if you’re a student and want to start building credit, here are the important things to know, as well as our picks for the best credit cards for students.

The best credit cards for students:

• Chase Freedom^® Student Credit Card
• Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card
• Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card
• Discover it^® Student Cash Back
• Discover it^® Student Chrome
• Bank of America^®️ Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students
  

Here are our top picks for the best student credit cards

Card	Annual fee	Rewards program	Key benefits
Chase Freedom® Student Credit Card	$0	1% cash back on all purchases	Good for sign-up bonus: Earn $50 cash back after you make an eligible purchase in the first 3 months after opening your account
Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card	$0	10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment; 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 3% on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and grocery stores (excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®); and 1% on all other purchases	Good for students who enjoy entertainment and eating out
Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card	$0	unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	Good for students who want simple cashback rewards
Discover it® Student Cash Back	$0	5% cash back in rotating categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases	Good for someone who loves the flexibility of different reward options every quarter
Discover it® Student Chrome	$0	2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations, up to $1000 per quarter; and 1% automatic cash back on all other purchases	Good for students who enjoy road trips and have good grades
Bank of America®️ Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students	$0	1.5X points per dollar spent on all purchases	Good for students with some established credit history

Chase Freedom^® Student Credit Card

Are you interested in earning a welcome bonus and 1% cash back on all purchases? If so, consider the Chase Freedom Student Card.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Chase Freedom® Student Credit Card	$0	1% cash back on all purchases	Earn $50 cash back after you make an eligible purchase in the first 3 months after opening your account

What we love about this card: Cardholders can earn $50 cash back after you make an eligible purchase in the first 3 months after opening your account. You can also earn $20 each year for five years if your account is open and not in default. Additionally, you could qualify for a credit limit increase if you make five monthly on-time payments within the first 10 months of account opening.

Because this card has a $0 annual fee, an automatic credit limit increase, and free access to your credit score through Credit Journey — it’s likely a good fit for any student who wants to earn simple cashback rewards while building their credit hassle-free.

It also doesn’t hurt that it includes coverages like purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and trip cancellation/interruption insurance.

What we don't love: Earning 1% cash back on all purchases is basically the bare minimum for cashback rates on rewards credit card accounts. This card also has no bonus categories.

Who this card is good for: Students who want a simple cashback credit card that reports credit card activity to the major credit bureaus.

Read our Chase Freedom Student Card review.

Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

If you make a list of some of the largest expenses for students, what would you write down? It’s likely that food and entertainment will come to mind as a few of those expenses. If this sounds about right for you, consider the Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Card.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Credit Card	$0	10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment; 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 3% on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and grocery stores (excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®); and 1% on all other purchases	Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months

What we love about this card: This card has a $0 annual fee and focuses on providing bonus rewards for popular spending categories. 

It offers 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment; 5% on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel; 3% on dining, entertainment, streaming services, and grocery stores (excluding superstores such as Walmart® and Target®); and 1% on all other purchases.

Students who travel or will study abroad might also find additional benefits helpful, such as no foreign transaction fees and receiving automatic travel accident insurance when using your card to purchase your trip.

What we don't love: There’s typically no introductory APR offers for balance transfers or purchases.

Who this card is good for:  Students who have a lot of dining, travel, and entertainment expenses.

Read our Capital One SavorOne Student Cash Rewards Card review.

Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card

Quicksilver is well known among Capital One credit cards because it’s the name of one of the company’s popular everyday cashback cards. And now there’s a student version.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card	$0	Unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	Earn a one-time $50 cash bonus after spending $100 in the first 3 months

What we love about this card: The Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card is easy and straightforward, and it’s an excellent option for students who want to earn simple cashback rates on all their purchases. 

The Quicksilver Student offers unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day; 10% cash back on purchases made through Uber & Uber Eats (through 11/14/2024); plus unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

This means using your card on any eligible purchase will earn you at least the 1.5% cashback rate. In addition, you’ll enjoy a $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees, as well as access to travel accident insurance.

For students who want to build credit with an easy-to-understand cashback card, this could be a good fit.

What we don't love: There’s typically no intro APR offer.

Who this card is good for: Students who want a simple, but elevated cashback rate and some travel benefits.

Read our Capital One Quicksilver Student Cash Rewards Credit Card review.

Discover it^® Student Cash Back

This card is gunning to be the valedictorian of the student credit card category.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Discover it® Student Cash Back	$0	5% cash back in rotating categories each quarter on up to $1,500 in purchases, and 1% cash back on all other purchases	Automatically get an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of any cash back you've earned at the end of the first year

What we love about this card: The Discover it Student Cash Back boasts an incredible cashback reward rate of up to 5% cash back, a lucrative first-year rewards match, and even an incentive for good grades.

Each quarter the Discover it Student Cash Back card features different categories that earn 5% cash back. These rotating can categories include gas stations, restaurants, and even Amazon.com. The Discover bonus category calendar is released far in advance, so it’s easy to plan for. 

And here’s the kicker: you’ll also automatically get an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of any cash back you've earned at the end of the first year. That means you’ll double all the rewards you earn on the bonus categories for the first year you have this card.

This can also be a very forgiving card if you're learning how to pay your monthly bills responsibly. Discover won't charge you a late fee for your first late payment or hit you with a penalty APR (this is an interest rate that is higher than your regular APR, meant to penalize a habit of making late payments). 

Plus, you’ll get a $20 statement credit for each year your GPA is above 3.0. You’ll go right to the head of the class with this card in your wallet. So, whether you already have a few credit cards or are looking for your very first card, the $0-annual-fee Discover it Student Cash Back card could be a good choice.

What we don't love: The 5% rate on rotating categories is capped at $1,500 per quarter. And some types of Discover credit cards aren’t as widely accepted abroad.

Who this card is good for: Students who want to earn high amounts of cash back on rotating categories, as well as a lucrative welcome bonus.

Read our Discover it Student Cash Back review.

Discover it^® Student Chrome

Does most of your monthly spending on a card go toward gas and restaurants? If the answer is yes, the Discover it Chrome for Students may be the perfect card for you.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Discover it® Student Chrome	$0	2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations, up to $1000 per quarter; and 1% automatic cash back on all other purchases	Discover will automatically match the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year — and there's no limit

What we love about this card: This card is similar to the Discover it Student Cash Back card because it has a $0 annual fee, earns a generous cashback match for the first full year, and even earns the $20 Good Grade Reward for a GPA over 3.0.

But there’s one key difference to consider when deciding which Discover it Student card is right for you. The Discover it Chrome for Students earns a straightforward 2% cash back at restaurants and gas stations, up to $1000 per quarter; and 1% automatic cash back on all other purchases. This means you don’t have to worry about rotating categories each quarter.

What we don't love: There’s less earning potential compared to the Discover it Student Cash Back.

Who this card is good for: Students who spend a lot at restaurants and gas stations.

Read our Discover it Chrome for Students review.

Bank of America^®️ Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students

Consider the Bank of America Travel Rewards for Students if you want to earn travel rewards and already have some established credit history.

Card	Annual fee	Rewards rate	Bonus offer
Bank of America®️ Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students	$0	1.5X points per dollar spent on all purchases	Earn 25,000 online bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days

What we love about this card: Compared to traditional credit cards, this card doesn’t skimp on the earning potential even though it’s designed for students. The rewards rate makes it easy to earn bonus points on all your eligible purchases no matter what your spending habits are.

You can also take advantage of multiple intro APR offers:

• 0% intro APR for the first 18 billing cycles on purchases (then 17.74% to 27.74% Variable)
• 0% intro APR for 18 billing cycles for any qualifying balance transfers made in the first 60 days (then 17.74% to 27.74% Variable)

Keep in mind there’s a balance transfer fee of 3% of the amount of each transaction for qualifying balance transfers.

What we don't love: You likely need a bit of established credit history to qualify for this card, which means many students might not be eligible since they’re just starting out with learning correct credit habits.

Who this card is good for: Students who have some established credit history and want a travel rewards card with a simple earning rate.

Why it’s important to build credit as a student

Having good credit can impact several areas of your life, including your employment status (some employers will check your credit score); the price you pay for services, such as your phone bill; your likelihood to be approved for a mortgage; and more.

Here are a few things having a great credit score can help you accomplish:

• Rental approval
• Lower utility bill costs
• Loan approvals
• Lower interest rates
• Lower insurance premium payment amounts
• Credit card approval
• Career advancement

While it’s tempting to wait until after college to start building credit, you may want to begin as soon as possible. Length of credit history is an important factor in your credit score. Length of credit history takes into account how long you've had credit and the average age of all your accounts. Establishing a credit history early can help you ace this part of your credit score.

Opening your first credit card as a student is a great way to establish your credit early, as long as you can commit to making your monthly payments on time and in full. (Payment history is another important factor in your credit score.) Credit card companies know that many students want to work toward financial security, so many of them offer credit cards tailored to those students.

Can a student apply for a credit card?

The short answer is yes. There are plenty of credit card options geared toward students’ needs. These student credit cards can be great financial tools to when it comes to how young adults can build credit history. Some even come with financial education tools and resources that aid in the development of positive financial habits. Some cards also come with rewards programs, good-grade incentives, protection options, and other perks customized for students.

But, since many students are just beginning their credit journey, each card may have its own set of qualifications in order to apply. These can include age restrictions, proof of income, or a cosigner requirement. Additionally, some credit card companies may require all applicants to be enrolled in a qualifying higher education institution, while others may not have such strict conditions.

How to compare student credit cards

Comparing credit cards is a bit of a challenge. With all of the options available, how do you find a suitable credit card for your needs? We’ve broken down some of the important factors to consider when deciding which card is right for you.

Annual fee

Some credit cards come with an annual fee. Credit cards typically charge this fee in exchange for extra rewards and perks or because the borrower has bad credit. This fee is added to your bill and may gather interest if it isn’t paid in full each month. While many credit card annual fees are under $100, some can range higher.

If you’re considering a card with a fee, decide if the extra benefits outweigh the costs. Or, if you have poor credit and can’t get approved for another card, the fee may be worth it in order to build credit.

Foreign transaction fees

A foreign transaction fee is what your credit card issuer charges for foreign currency purchases made with your card. To process these foreign transactions, your credit card company might charge a percentage of the purchase, usually between 1 to 3%. If you plan to remain in the U.S. for the duration of your studies, this may not be an issue. However, if you plan to travel or study abroad, then you should note whether or not your credit card charges you foreign transaction fees.

Reports to all 3 credit bureaus

There are three primary credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — that store and gather your financial data. Lenders use this information to determine if they’re willing to lend you money for a house or car — or for you to open a credit account.

Almost all major credit cards report to all three bureaus on at least a monthly basis. Still, it's a good idea to check your credit score regularly to make sure your card and payments are being reported correctly. Since the purpose of a student credit card is to establish and build credit, you want to ensure your good credit history is properly documented. You can easily check your credit score for free through a service like Credit Karma.

Other factors to consider

Depending on your personal situation, there may be other factors you want to consider in choosing the best student credit card. 

It's not typical that a student credit card offers a sign-up bonus, though the Chase Freedom Student card does offer one. As a new cardholder, you can earn $50 cash back after you make an eligible purchase in the first 3 months after opening your account.  

For earning rewards on new purchases in specific categories, you may want a card that offers a rewards rate on the kind of spending you do over the course of the school year. Do you spend mostly in grocery stores? Or would you prefer a card that rewards you more on everything you purchase?

Or you may prefer a card that comes with a year of Amazon Prime Student like the Deserve^® EDU Mastercard for Students or a card like the Bank of America^®️ Travel Rewards Credit Card for Students that helps you earn rewards good toward future travel. And even though it's not explicitly a student card, the Petal^® 2 "Cash Back, No Fees" Visa^® Credit Card could be a great credit card option for students looking to earn cash back. Consider how you're going to use your card and what benefits each card provides before you fill out a credit card application.

FAQs about student credit cards

Bottom line

Part of being a student is working toward the future you envision for yourself. This means practicing skills both inside and outside the classroom. Your financial education and learning to build a good credit score are part of your college years as well. You may already have a bank account and a debit card, but applying for a credit card could be the right next step for you when it comes to your personal finances. 

Just remember that unlike a debit card, you can spend more than you are capable of paying for when you use a credit card. Start your credit history on a good foot by spending responsibly. Start your credit history on a good foot by spending responsibly and always paying at least your minimum payment by the due date.

Methodology

To select the best credit cards for students, we compared cards from multiple issuers. We assessed features like rewards programs, annual fees, welcome offers, and credit requirements to identify the most student-friendly options. We did not include all cards available.