Should college student get a credit card to establish credit?

[catch]

My 21 year old son is wondering if he should try and get a credit card to begin to establish his credit report and score. He had a Visa Buxx in high school that we established for him and has a school loan of 1500.00 that we are paying off. Other than those he has never had any credit. He is majoring in accounting with a 4.0. Plan to get his CPA and Masters so 2 and a half years left of school. Thoughts?

[llecs]

I don't believe the Buxx card reports. The only thing he would have going is the SL if in his name too. He'll benefit by adding a CC. It'll help his mix of credit and his history in the long run. Try your bank if you have a great relationship, or a CU somewhere or even a secured CC. I'm partial to BofA but there are others.

[haulingthescoreup]

If his college is big enough, it might have a CU. I would absolutely tell him to go with a local CU. A secured card would be fine; whatever it takes to get a credit record started.

Make sure that he knows about how there is no such thing as wiggle room on payment due dates! And that he should not wait until the due date, but pay when the statement posts online, or even sooner.

There are a lot of us here who would love to have a chance to be in his shoes and starting fresh.

[catch]

This may be a stupid question , but what is bofa?

[Anonymous]

Bank of America

[Anonymous]

I'm 21 and I've had a checking account with chase since I was 18.  I decided to get my first card (Chase +1 Student Card) through them about 9 months ago and was approved with a $500 CL.  If he has a checking account with a certain bank, he should get his first card through them. 

[Anonymous]

Bofa,Citi, and Chase are good student cards for thin files

[Chopbrocoli]

In my opinion, YES! Right now I'm 20 and got my first credit card through my bank when I first started college when I was 18 (Credit limit $700). After 6 months, my FICO score was at 740. However, keep in mind one credit account is not good enough on a credit report. Lenders want to see a diverse list of credit accounts whether its credit cards, car notes and leases, or personal loans etc. But one credit card can definitely lead him in the right direction to having great credit. However, he just needs to manage his credit card well. What I mean by that is spending no more than 20% of his total credit limit, not maxing out his card, no missed payments, and collections. If he does, his credit can take quite a toll. After a year of good credit management, he can get another credit card or obtain a small personal loan to increase his diverse accounts of credit. Good luck!

[Not_the_Point]

Absolutely should get a credit card! I'm a 3/4 time college student and also work full time, but I did not start my credit history until a year ago! So much wasted time! Get him started as early as possible, and definetly go for a Secured Card with a cash deposit if you're not sure how he'll handle the credit, but the longer you put it off the worst it will get.

Two things that he must absolutely understand is that if he makes late payments, it will seriously harm his ability to get more credit in the future on his own. Running up the credit card will also hurt him severely in the long run. It's a good way for him to exercise self-discipline and get a  head-start on being on sound credit-worthiness ground when he's out of college. If you're concerned about him going nuts with the card, keep it a Secured Card with a reasonably low limit.

[catch]

Just to follow up. My son applied for a card at our credit union. They turned him down unless, my husband or I will be a co-signer for him. We don't really mind, in that we trust him completely... But with our financial status just turning around in the last 3 years and finally being where we want it- we don't want the co-sign to effect our score negatively- Will it?

Thanks