<p>I know student loans should be stayed away from, but I've just applied for a credit card and got rejected (no income). What if I take out a subsidized stafford loan? I don't absolutely need the money to pay for college. Scholarship and grants and federal work study covers everything. What if I take $500-1000 a year in student loans to artificially boost my credit score? I have no credit right now.</p>
<p>But having a loan under my name in the first place is bad right?</p>
<p>I doubt that having a college loan in your name will make you eligible for a credit card. With all of the issues the credit card companies had, their eligibility criteria have become more strict with having a job at the top of the list of important criteria. Loans are debt and will not help you get a credit card which can cause more debt.</p>
<p>Having a loan under your name isn’t bad, if it is an affordable loan. But in terms of getting credit, having a loan in your name isn’t going to help you ifyou have no income. It’s not just your credit score that counts in getting credit. You need an income. And a job history. And that income has to support whatever loans you have.</p>
<p>You need income to get a credit card. Not debt. Get a job and try again.</p>
<p>This plan was more of a long term plan. The only reason I applied for a credit card was to build up credit, but since I got rejected, why not have another strategy to build up credit? If I take out a subsidized loan (which I am eligible for), the interest is paid by the government until I graduate. When I get a job as a grad student, I’ll get a stipend of about $20k. With that money, I probably can pay off my debt in a year or less. I’ll have paid internships during school, so I might even pay it off before I graduate</p>
<p>So forget the credit card until I graduate.</p>
<p>I would not wait until you graduate to start building credit. You may need to buy a car, sign a lease, etc once you graduate,and you will still need a cosigner. I started building my sons credit now. You should apply for a secured credit card, yeah it sucks because there is a fee. I had my son apply for one through PNC Bank after he graduated from high school in the summer. It was 3.95/mo fee. We put a few small purchases on it, like gas, and paid them off. He then started getting offers from cc companies for students, so we applied for a discover card after having the secured card for about 7 months, and he was approved with a $500 limit. So now, he is building credit. Occasionally, he puts food or gas on it, just so it shows he is using it, and paying on it.</p>
<p>I would not count on the grad school stipend being enough to pay for living expenses AND pay off a student loan. Actually at I wouldn’t count on that grad school stipend until it was received!</p>
<p>There are secured credit cards without fees. Look into secured cards at credit unions.</p>
<p>Your parents can also get a card in your name on one of their accounts, and that will also build your credit.</p>
<p>I put my son on a department store card I had, and he still didnt get approved. I initially tried for a gas card, which is supposed to have lighter requirements. I still say its best to get a card in your name solely.</p>
<p>This is losing effectiveness. The newer scoring models are beginning to disregard authorized users.</p>
<p>Having a student loan on your credit report is going to hurt your debt to income ratio so will probably make it harder to get a credit card not easier.</p>
<p>Look into the the Citi Dividend Platinum Select Visa Card for College Students (or something similar). It’s great! I pay for everything with it and always pay my bill on time, and I’ve “earned” nearly $100 in the past year with their rewards program. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether having income is required, but it’s specifically designed for college students, so it’s probably your best bet. :)</p>
<p>The student loan won’t help your credit score until you actually start paying on it.</p>
<p>You might try applying for a department store credit card – they seem to really push them & usually offer some sort of purchase discount when you apply for credit, so no harm in trying. </p>
<p>I think the Credit Karma [Advice</a> and Learning](<a href=“http://www.creditkarma.com/learning]Advice”>http://www.creditkarma.com/learning) web site has a lot of good advice on building credit.</p>
<p>“The student loan won’t help your credit score until you actually start paying on it.”</p>
<p>I’m not so sure about that. The direct loans report when they are dispursed and report each month as pays as agreed even while the student is still in college. Even though the balance would not be going down, and may even be rising depending on the loan, you would be collecting a bunch of on time payments.</p>
<p>I got credit cards with my son as a joint account (not just authorized user). Worked well to build HIS credit history.</p>
<p>PS: I keep tabs on his spending and I pay the bill</p>
<p>You loose 1-2% of origination fee. My daughter had a credit card at 18 without having a job. I inquired with BofA and the representative said the same thing. But the key thing is to turn 18. She has built her credit history from that credit card. I don’t think it’s a good idea to loose 1-2% to build credit history.</p>
<p>It has become increasingly harder for 18 year olds who are students to get credit cards. When my kids were college freshmen, B of A and others offered student credit cards with college student accounts. That is no longer the case.</p>
<p>Thumper is right, changes to credit card regulations in 2010 have made it tougher for those under 21 to get a non-secured credit card without a credit worthy co-signer; before that, financial institutions handed out cards easily to unemployed dependent students, knowing parents would frequently step in to pay bills rather than see the students credit harmed. </p>
<p>My understanding is that the law now requires that those under 21 to be able to show income in order to get a non-secured card without a co-signer. A summer job seems to be sufficient which seems silly the banks and credit unions know a job is only for the summer (as its in the students home town while the student attends school hundreds of miles away) so it doesnt really predict whether the student will be able to pay long term; but, the fact that the applicant had a job at the time of application seems to give the credit card issuer some cover under the law. </p>
<p>D2 (rising college sophomore) wants to get a credit card now to start building history, but we arent planning to co-sign as we were always told it was best not to mix parent and child credit history; shes planning to apply for one while shes home for the summer working two jobs and were crossing our fingers that her pay stubs will help her get approved without a co-signer (then well help her pay the bill each month). OP, if you weren’t able to get a job this summer, maybe apply for a credit card next summer if you have a job then?</p>