A survey from U.S. News in mid-September found that over 67% of college freshmen have their own credit card and that just over 9% have access to a credit card as an authorized user.
Having a credit card in college is a great way to build your credit history, but only if you use it wisely. Almost half of the people who responded to the survey say they have credit card debt.
Plans to apply for a credit card: About 31% of students say they plan to apply for a card in the next six months, and 22.7% say they'll do so in the next year.
Features of a good student credit card: When asked what they want most in a student credit card, 31.7% say they want one with no annual fee, 16.8% want one with a bonus for making payments on time, 12.8% want one that raises their credit limit for good behavior, and 11.3% want one with a sign-up bonus.
Thoughts that aren't true about credit scores: More than 79% of people don't know that a credit score shows how likely you are to not pay back a loan. More than 23% say it shows how much debt you have, 21.6% say it shows how much money you have to pay back a loan, and almost 12% say it shows how much you know about borrowing money.
Only 30.4% of people know that their credit utilization ratio is how much credit they are using compared to how much credit they have available. Nearly 16% think it means how often you use your credit card, and 13.6% think it means how often you use your credit card compared to how often you use your debit card.