Credit in our society is a very important thing. You may not be too worried about your credit score now, but you will soon. It is an important factor in calculating how much we pay for bank loans, credit card interest rates, insurance rates, etc as well as if we are available to purchase cell phone plans, cars, homes and much more.  So how does a college student build their credit in order to get a higher score (a high credit score is a good thing)?  Very Carefully.

The first step is to open a savings and checking account (if you don’t have one already).  Use your checkbook from time to time, but make sure not to overdraw your account (aka. bounce a check). 

Get a credit card and use it for a few small purchases a month.  When you get your bill pay it right away.  If you are late on your payments it decrease your credit score…So don’t be late.  Make sure you don’t ever charge more than half of the cards maximum limit.  Once you exceed 50% your credit score begins to drop too.

Don’t ever let any of your bills get sent to a collection agency!  This is very bad on a credit report.