College Student Credit Cards - How to Choose the Best One

There are so many credit cards being offered to college students these days that it may be difficult to choose the right college student credit card. It is important to choose carefully to make sure that you have the best deal and rates available.

The interest rate that a college credit card charges is extremely important to take into account. The fact is that when you make a purchase on a college credit card you are, in effect, borrowing money from the credit card issuer. You must pay a monthly interest rate on this loan unless you pay your balance off in full every month. So, you want to have a college credit card with the lowest annual percentage rate and the longest 0% interest introductory period. The majority of college credit cards will be very similar in these two regards so the next point to consider is the rewards that you receive for using the credit card.

For most students, their college credit cards are the first ‘proper’ credit cards that they will have had and they will not be familiar with the types of rewards that are the best. The three main reward types that are most useful for students are:

* Frequent flyer miles
* Cash back
* Free gas

Frequent flyer miles are the best rewards to have with a college credit card for students who are attending a college a long distance from home. As you use your college credit card you accumulate frequent flyer miles that you can exchange for flights back home – or wherever you want to go. Unlike airline reward schemes, frequent flyer miles can be used on any participating airline, worldwide.

Cash back on a college credit card is actually a points system. As you spend money these points accumulate against your college credit card and they can be exchanged for cash, gift certificates or special discounts at popular outlets and stores. The amount of cash back that a college credit card awards may seem small but every little helps and you will soon be racking it up.

Free gas when you use your college credit card is the best option for students who have their own car. Gas prices are getting higher and some college credit cards offer rewards to help with the rising cost of motoring with rebates against gas station purchases. These free gas college credit cards also offer discounts and points towards other motoring related items so it is worth comparing the different schemes available.

Credit: Student Credit Cards 101

Almost all students have and use student credit cards. Some of the students use them wisely and build for them an early credit history but others accumulate lots of debts that would have to be paid off once the student life is over. Students that have a credit card should learn how to take charge and manage their own finances as soon as possible, because the time between teen years and adulthood is very short. So, the sooner a student starts managing his own financial matters the sooner he will develop useful financial skills. Student credit cards are no longer a privilege for wealthy students but now are considered a social entitlement.

A student can very easily obtain a student credit card. Offers for student credit cards are everywhere students are: in campuses, at social functions, in their mail boxes, in bookstores, etc. That is because credit companies consider students to be good customers. First of all they are loyal; once a student obtains a credit card, he is likely to keep this particular card for years to come and instead of getting other new cards they upgrade it every time they fill the need to do it. Nowadays, the conditions to obtain a student credit card are very weak, so more and more students have access to them even though they don’t have a steady source of income. And this is a second reason why credit card companies offer more and more credit cards to students: they usually can’t repay their debts in time. And this is what credit cards companies rely on; they make lots of money from late payment penalties, interest fees on unpaid credit card balances, annual fees and more. So, students that don’t repay their credit card balances in full each month are the best customers.

Every college freshman wants to have at least one credit card because it will help him very much during his college years; the student will be able to rent a car, buy books or concert tickets, provide himself help with medical or other emergencies and more. Apart from financial help during college years, student credit cards offer other types of help by building a credit history. Credit history is the record of all that happens in your financial situation throughout the years. Credit scoring is a system based on all that happens to your accounts: late payments, bill paying history, number and type of accounts, outstanding debts and more. If the credit history and scoring are good the student will more easily obtain a house or a car loan, certain types of financial jobs, insurance premiums and more other benefits. So, the student must pay his bills in full or in time, in order to benefit later of their first years of credit history.

The most difficult thing for a student is to choose from the large number of student credit card offers. And the best way for a student to choose a credit card for himself is to talk to other students and get advice from the ones that already have and use a credit card and compare credit card offers online. Before choosing a credit card, the student must be aware of the card’s terms of use. Most student that already have a credit card recommend for the others a card with no annual fee and the option to limit the amount to be spent. And apart from these safety measures, wise students that think of their financial future often take a personal finance course in order to learn all kinds of financial management skills that will help them throughout their entire life.

Students must be very careful when using their student credit cards; they always have to be cautious about the amount charged on the credit card and, at the end of the month, to review the amount of interest they have to pay monthly. It is also recommendable that the credit card balance to be paid as soon as received. If for some reason the balances cannot be paid in full, the student must pay at least the minimum payment required. If problems with paying the credit card balances appear, the student must ask help from a financial counselor that will always have a solution for him as student loan repayments are much more flexible than consumer loan repayments. And another thing students must be careful about is identity theft; the credit card or social security numbers should not be given to anybody over the phone. These are important information that cannot get into the hands of wrong people because will very much damage the credit history. So, we can consider that it is best for students to have a credit card starting with their freshman college years because, if used wisely, the credit card history built in this period will very much help them throughout their entire life.

Student Loan Limits Not Keeping Up with Tuition Rates

As tuition rates at many colleges goes on to rise, the bounds that students may borrow each twelvemonth have stayed the same.

Dependent undergrads may borrow up to $2,625 their fresher year, $3,500 their sophomore twelvemonth and $5,500 for each remaining twelvemonth in Stafford Loans.

Students classified as independent from parents, may measure up for further unsubsidized loans. Dependent students may also have unsubsidized loans if parents make not measure up for a PLUS loan.

Unsubsidized loans can be a dual edged blade -- they allow the student to pay for college, but borrowers make not have the interest free benefit of subsidised loans.

There is also accumulative bounds of $23,000 for an undergraduate education.

The bounds on amounts students can borrow though federal loans hasn't increased since 1992. In that clip tuition rates have got more than than doubled.

According to finaid.org, tuition rates addition at about twice the general rising prices rate. On average, tuition be givens to increase about 8% per year. In addition, general rising terms have caused prices for student housing, repasts and other necessary disbursals to increase.

For the school twelvemonth 2005-2006 many colleges dramatically raised tuition rates. An illustration of such as tuition tramps is the University of Centennial State where rates rates have got been raised for all of the system's campuses. Tuition at CU-Boulder volition travel up by 27.8 percent, from $3,480 to $4,446. Other copper campuses will see a similar increase.

The national average tuition for public universities is $4,694 per twelvemonth for in state residents. For freshmen and sophomore students, the current student loan bounds makes not even cover tuition costs.

Because of the limitations with federal student loan limits, students and parents will need to go more than diligent in seeking out option beginnings of college funding.

There are many scholarships available nationwide that students can apply for. One of the easiest ways to apply is through the FastWeb online database. There are also many books available that listing scholarships that students can apply for.

Part clip and summertime student employment also goes more than of import when instruction costs rise.

Until the federal authorities reconsiders raising the student loan limits, students will go increasingly dependent upon scholarships, nest egg and employment. The lesson for households with children not yet in college is simple -- start economy early.

Federal Student Financial Aid

If your student is college jump this approaching fall, then now is the clip to go acquainted with the financial assistance application process. The most of import word word form is the Free Application for Federal Soldier Student Aid, otherwise known as the “FAFSA.

Here are some tips to forestall any problems and do certain your application is considered:

Tip #1: Read the form

Many inquiries on the FAFSA are straightforward, like your Sociable Security Number or your day of the month of birth. But others necessitate you to read the instruction manual to do certain you reply the inquiry correctly. Certain terms like "household" have got particular definitions intents of student financial aid. So be certain to read the instructions.

Tip #2: Apply early

Deadlines for assistance from your state, from your school, and from private beginnings be given to be much earlier than deadlines for federal aid. To do certain that any financial assistance package your school offers you volition incorporate assistance from as many beginnings as possible, apply as soon as you can after January 1, 2005.

Tip #3: Make your 2004 taxes first

Filling out your tax tax return first will do completing the FAFSA easier. You are not required to register your tax tax return with the Internal Revenue Service before you submit your FAFSA. But, if you register the FAFSA first, and your income or tax information changes once you finish your tax return, you are required to travel back and right any inaccurate information on your assistance application. If you do not make these updates, you may not have as much assistance as you measure up for, or you may be required to go back federal assistance you improperly have based upon wrong information.

Tip #4: File Electronically

You can fill up out and submit a FAFSA over the Internet. This is the fastest manner to apply for financial aid. Also, by filing online, your application can be scanned for mistakes before being submitted, reducing the hazard of your application being rejected.

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Student Credit Cards: Tips To Build Credit Worthiness & A Great Credit Score!

Getting to college and keeping up with your surveys is hard adequate and let’s not forget the weekend occupations and late nighttime shift. To exceed this off you have got to worry about the edifice credit and your financial "reputation."

What is this human race coming to?

Take a deep breath and sit down back. Like most problems in life, this 1 too have a solution that is not as hard as it seems.

Let’s start with “credit worthiness.” It simply intends that you look dependable adequate for financial firms to impart you money. These are some tips to assist you construct and keep “credit worthiness.”

• Wage your student credit card on time. On clip intends before the owed date. You see, even one twenty-four hours late, is late and you don’t desire to look belated to those who desire to impart you money. They translate it to irresponsible.

• Don’t travel overboard and over your credit limit. Staying below your credit card bounds demonstrates your ability to manage your money. You come up across as reliable. Try to maintain your account balances less than 50% of your available credit.

• Less is better. Think of this as a love relationship. You happen the 1 you love and really nourish that relationship. If you have got too many relationships, they will stay on the shallow end. In life, you will need depth.

Limit the number of credit cards you get or even apply for. How would you experience if your miss friend or male child friend started asking others for dates? Just asking person else for a day of the month bespeaks some sort of a problem, doesn’t it? Excessive credit enquiries over a short clip are interpreted as you having financial problems.

• Attempt to pay your balance in full each calendar month or at least do certain you direct more than than the minimum payment required.

• Ignore the pressure levels that you may experience in societal circumstances. You dwell much longer than you believe and most people you now cognize volition not be as stopping point to you in a few years. Your debts will be with you for much longer if you are not careful. Work on some basic emotional subjects like asking yourself if you really need something before you charge it. Or, can you refund the charge and if so how long volition it take you? If it takes you longer to pay the credit card debt than it takes you to complete college, you may believe about that purchase twice.

• Compare the terms and costs when shopping for a student credit card.

• Reappraisal your student credit card statements carefully and compose to your credit card company as soon as you detect an mistake on a charge statement. Don’t just name them, compose to them and maintain a copy.

• Reappraisal your credit reports and check for inaccurate, uncomplete or obsolete information. You have got the right to difference inaccurate information.

• Support in touching with your creditors, report your card as lost or purloined immediately, allow them cognize of an computer address change immediately, inform them of telephone number change immediately. I know, that is a batch of “immediately” inch one sentence.

• Support your friendly relationships a small on the distant side and don’t unfastened joint accounts easily. As I said, most people you cognize now regardless of how close you experience to them, may be much more than distant both geographically and emotionally in a few years.

If you get into trouble, despite your best efforts, exercising courage and honesty. If you can't pay your measures on time, choice up the phone and phone call your creditor to explicate your state of affairs and inquire them for advice. Creditors will often work with you to come up up with an every other payment arrangement.

I go forth you with a quote with Jesse James Lane Allen, “You are the 1 who must take your place.” May you be happy with your choices.

A Guide to Finding the Best Student Credit Cards

Student credit cards annually bombard fresher as they come in college. It have go a autumn ritual. Parents should be vigilant in discussing the importance and duties that spell along with having a credit card before the students ever go forth home. Don't get me wrong, I believe it's a great thought that students have got got their ain credit card when they travel away to school, but it is extremely of import that they get the right card and usage it wisely.

The best student credit cards are the 1s that have low disbursement limits. A high bounds credit card given to a college student could be a formula for disaster. It should be made clear to the students that their credit card is for emergency usage only, unless they desire to get a occupation and pay for any of the charges that are made on it. That sounds like a good idea, but probably isn't very realistic.

When determination the best student credit cards, it is imperative to seek out the lowest interest rates that you can find. This is really obvious, but nonetheless needs to be stated. Many credit card companies will offer 0% teaser rates for the first six months. Beware of these rates because they're often followed by exorbitantly high interest rates and then you are stuck. It is most certainly not uncommon for students to carry balances for more than than six months, so I suggest that you avoid this option.

Just about all student credit cards offer some type of inducements such as as rewards points or cash back incentives. This is done for obvious reasons. The most common of which is to lure the cardholder into using it more than often. Overall it is a pretty good deal to have rewards for credit card charges as long as you bear in head that this is not free money. Whether you recognize it or not, you have got already paid for those points. Managing your account online is a great characteristic for students. For starters, just about every student have access to the
Internet and can easily access their credit card statements. The second great ground for this is that the parents can also supervise the activity on the card even if they are thousands of miles away. This sort of accountability for impressionable immature students is an first-class manner to maintain them from getting themselves into trouble. It also maintains the parents from getting stuck paying their children huge credit card bills.

For a student credit card it is of import that they have got a lost or purloined card characteristic that warrants protection against unauthorised activity. Lets human face it, sometimes children are not as responsible as we might wish them to be. Having this protection travels a long manner in moderation the parent's head when they manus their student a credit card