Serious question that you should ask yourself: why does she need a credit card in college? If she’s not working and will be living off of loans, grants, or your money, a credit card will serve no purpose as it won’t be being integrated into a legitimate financial model for living. If she is working while in college, she should have whatever money she needs for a basic monthly budget.
I suggest that she waits until she gets out of college, gets a real job, and gets out on her own. I wish to hell that I had.
I disagree. By the time my kids got out of college, they needed the good credit rating they had created in college. It also gave them a lesson in handling credit before they got out into the real world.
An example of this is my daughter bought a new truck last year (she is now a senior). With her excellent credit rating she qualified for preferred (low rate) financing.
There is a reason why credit card companies push cards on incoming Freshmen so hard- and it’s not because they are nice people who want to help them establish a credit rating. College kids who know shit all about financial planning fuck up, and their parents bail them out. And the credit card companies get richer because of this.
I would at least wait a couple years and see how she handles budgeting on her own. There is nothing a college kid needs to do that they can’t do with a debit card. And often college kids (especially not-rich college kids suddenly in a land of people who are pretty rich) have no idea what a reasonable budget is. Better to let them get that stuff worked out before handing them a tool that could ruin their lives.
I can think of lots of good reasons to have a credit card in college. A lot of people I knew in college had a low-limit card for things like textbooks that couldn’t wait for student-aid checks to come in; when they got the credit card bill, they just used their aid money to pay it off. There are also non-budgetable expenses like field trips where a card is handy. And unless the parents have access to the student’s bank account to be able to make deposits, there may be emergencies that can’t wait for a parent to send a check, such as prescription medication. In other words, college students can use a credit card for the same reasons that non-students do: To cover expenses when you don’t have the cash on hand.
Besides, if the OP’s daughter is financially irresponsible, she’ll blow through her student-aid check, and if she gets money from her parents regularly, she’ll be asking for more. A credit card won’t make that much of a difference except to her credit rating.
I completely agree. I could think of plenty of what-if situations where an 18 year old could need more cash then they have in their bank account at that moment, particularly if they are living away from home, own a car, or plan on traveling. And not every 18 year is a financial idiot, but if OPs daughter is in that category then I agree, she’ll find away to spend whatever money she’ll get her hands on. I say better for her to learn her lessons now while biggest purchase is a new textbook or a pair of boots. In five years she may be standing inside Ethan Allen looking at furniture for her new apartment, hopefully by then she’ll figure out how finance charges add up.
MsRobyn nailed it. having been though this twice, those expenses do come up. Lots. Abuse is why you have to talk educate your child about responsible usage.