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Sometimes it really pays to be a college student. Credit cards are a case in point. If you are a college student, you can apply for and get regular consumer credit cards as well as credit cards targeted specifically to students (so-called ’student cards’).

Most of the time, regular consumer credit cards win hands down. Take a look at our summary of credit card bonuses and you won’t find a single student credit card in that list. Banks seem to know that it doesn’t take that much of an incentive to sign up students for their credit cards. They prefer to market the better incentives (i.e. sign-up bonuses) to people who are more selective.

Why apply for a student card at all? Some would argue that if you don’t have much of a credit history, as is the case with most college students, student cards are easier to qualify for. I would have to disagree on that. These days it’s relatively easy to get regular consumer credit cards without much of a credit history. Banks are all too eager to sign up people for credit cards, especially students, who are likely to keep their credit cards for years even after they graduate. More than anything, it’s a ‘bad’ credit history, i.e. not paying your bills, which will get an application rejected.

Here’s a personal anecdote. Back when I was in college (not too long ago), I signed up for both student cards and regular credit cards. In fact, my freshman year I was so inexperienced that it didn’t even occur to me that there was a difference between the two. The on-campus credit card representatives were marketing both types of cards to us. They just told us that as long as we put a minimum household income on our applications (e.g. $15,000 or more), there’d be no problem - and there wasn’t. The only thing I regret is that I didn’t really get much out of it. Knowing what I know now, none of the cards I got offered decent bonuses. Once I got a free T-shirt, another time I got a small hoop with a miniature-size basketball. True, the credit cards all came with low introductory APR offers but I always paid off my balance at the end of the month, so that didn’t really matter to me. I guess I was just happy getting credit cards, any credit cards. I figure most college students today are no different.

Unfortunately, not much has changed in the way credit cards are marketed to students on campus. The bonuses offered to them, if any, are still measly. If you’re a college student and you’re interested in making extra money off sign-up bonuses, pretty much your only option is to apply for regular consumer cards.

There is one exception though: the Citi mtvU Visa card. (FYI: This Citi Visa credit card is co-branded with MTV. You’ve probably seen the mtvU college television station before.) The Citi mtvU card has to be the best student credit card out there. No, it doesn’t come with a sign-up bonus. What’s great about iis the rewards program: You get 5 ThankYou points on every dollar you spend at restaurants (including fast food), bookstores, record stores, movie theaters and video rental stores. (Btw, you can redeem the points for gift cards or towards student loans. It’s like getting 5% back on your purchases.) If you’re living on campus, that covers pretty much everything you’re spending your money on. And it gets better, the ‘bookstores’ category also includes online bookstores like BarnesandNoble.com, Borders.com, and get this, Amazon.com! That’s right, all your Amazon.com purchases qualify for 5% rewards. That’s amazing. You can get pretty much anything from Amazon!

In case you’re wondering, you really have to be a student to get this card. There’s no way around it.

How to Apply

You can apply online with instant approval available.

1. Go here, scroll down and click on “Citi mtvU Platinum Select VisaCard for College Students” . A new window will pop up with the offer.

2. Click on Apply.

* Be sure to have your browser’s pop-up blocker turned off.

Description (from Citi mtvU Visa webpage):

Score points
Get ThankYou Points® for the things you do every day as a student, like:
* Getting good grades
* Paying your bill on time and staying under your credit limit
* Purchases at bookstores, restaurants and more

• Amex Green Rewards - $50 Bonus
• Bank of America - Gift Card Bonuses
• Citibank - 6000 Bonus Thank You Points for 2-Minute Survey
• DiscoverCard - 5% Cash Back on Gas and Hotels
• Discover Business Cashback Card - $100 Cashback Bonus

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