Credit cards for college students
We recommend these cards from our partners.
CK Editors’ Tips††: Student credit cards may offer rewards and other features to help you start your credit journey.Read more
What to consider when choosing a student credit card
Student credit cards can feature valuable rewards, but they’re primarily for helping students establish a credit history. Try to pick a card that helps you maintain good credit habits, like paying on time and in full. Ultimately, establishing quality credit with a student card is more likely to help you in the long term than any rewards you earn now.
Student credit cards can feature valuable rewards, but they’re primarily for helping students establish a credit history. Try to pick a card that helps you maintain good credit habits, like paying on time and in full. Ultimately, establishing quality credit with a student card is more likely to help you in the long term than any rewards you earn now.
How we picked the best student credit cards
The best student credit cards come with useful rewards, but they also help students develop good credit habits. When selecting these cards, we focused on various rewards goals and the kinds of features that reward you for your card use, like extra cash back for paying on time. Read more about our methodology for picking the best credit cards.
Jump to editors’ picksThe best student credit cards come with useful rewards, but they also help students develop good credit habits. When selecting these cards, we focused on various rewards goals and the kinds of features that reward you for your card use, like extra cash back for paying on time. Read more about our methodology for picking the best credit cards.
Great for students building credit††
Great for students building credit††
Deserve® EDU Mastercard
- Rewards rate1%Cash back
- Annual fee$0
Rewards rate
1% Cash back
Annual fee
$0
- Receive one year of Amazon Prime Student on Deserve after spending $500 in the first three billing cycles with your EDU card (Lifetime Value of $59).
- Earn 1% Cash Back on all purchases with your Deserve EDU Mastercard. Once approved, you'll automatically start earning cash back on all purchases.
Great for beginners††
Great for beginners††
Petal® 2 Visa® Credit Card
- Rewards rate1% - 1.5%Cash back
- Annual fee$0
Rewards rate
1% - 1.5% Cash back
Annual fee
$0
- No fees whatsoever. No late fee, foreign transaction fee, annual fee, or any-other-kind-of-fee, fee.
- Variable APRs range from 13.24% - 27.24%
Discover it® Student chrome
- Rewards rate1% - 2%Cash back
- Annual fee$0
Rewards rate
1% - 2% Cash back
Annual fee
$0
- No credit score required to apply.*
- INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or turn $100 into $200. There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match.
Discover it® Student Cash Back
- Rewards rate1% - 5%Cash back
- Annual fee$0
Rewards rate
1% - 5% Cash back
Annual fee
$0
- No credit score required to apply.*
- INTRO OFFER: Unlimited Cashback Match – only from Discover. Discover will automatically match all the cash back you’ve earned at the end of your first year! So you could turn $50 cash back into $100. Or turn $100 into $200. There’s no minimum spending or maximum rewards. Just a dollar-for-dollar match.
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†† The opinions you read here come from our editorial team. Credit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors' opinions. Our marketing partners don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when it’s posted.