What to Look for in College Credit Cards

The quality of your credit rating has a huge effect on a lot of things in your life. It will be easier to get loans when you need them; and you will receive a lower interest rate on them as well. A good credit rating can even mean having an easier time being hired for a job.

Just a few years back, credit card companies were giving out cards to absolutely everyone. You'd get credit card offers almost non-stop which offered low interest rates and high credit limits. Then, credit cards for college students were a big sector of the market. Credit card offers were mass mailed and all you had to do was fill out the application. People got on the bandwagon in droves, buying all of those things they couldn't afford outright, but could make payments on.

If you weren't raised by financial whizzes and especially if you're a young person, you might not have any idea how to manage your money. If you see that "must have" item, you just pull out that plastic, forgetting that the bill will come due at the end of the month.

If you're in school, you probably see a lot of these credit cards for college students being offered. Before you even look at any of these applications, it would probably be a good idea to ask your parents for some advice. They may have had some experiences with these credit cards for college students when they were still attending university back before you were born; of course now, these cards have a much higher interest rate and fees. If your parents got themselves into a debt which it took years to pay off, this is a time where you should not follow the example set by your parents.

Amazing as it might seem, credit cards for college students are being offered just as much as they were a few decades back. However, these offers no longer come with a low APR. The fees are a lot higher too and just one late payment can send your APR skyrocketing.

Many credit card companies don't even ask you for all that much information before they will hand that card over to you. It is your responsibility to read all of that fine print; you need to understand all of the terms and conditions which are spelled out there.

Be smart when you shop these credit cards for college students. Read the cardholder agreement carefully. Don't regard that card as a windfall of cash. It isn't. Be prepared to pay it off each month. If you must max it out for emergencies, make at least three times the minimum payment, to avoid having your balance increase instead of decrease. If you're smart, a credit card can be a good thing!