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Are all college students financially na've? Would you trust your teenager with a credit card? Well, whatever you opinions on the matter might be, students are increasingly being targeted by credit card companies. This is clearly the "catch 'em young" philosophy in action. There are many detractors to this policy of looking for increasingly younger credit cardholders. One of the most voiced opinions is that the credit card providers are simply looking to make a quick buck by exploiting the financial inexperience of young people. Teenagers are not renowned for their budgetary skills. In fact, most of us learn to take care of our finances only after going broke a couple of times.

However, perhaps it is time that we placed some trust in the teenagers of the world. With the kind of exposure that the young people of today get, it is easier to avoid getting entrapped in webs of debt. Moreover, the high school and college years are the easiest years to learn about the value of money. The experiences that we gain at this time teach us to be smart with our cash. So this is as good a time as ever to introduce your college-goer to the big bad world of credit cards.

Well, credit card companies recognize this factor as well. As a result, college campuses have become the marketplace for many providers. Students are flooded by offers of all kinds from various credit card companies. Many of them offer freebies like t-shirts and caps to win over interested students. At times the offers might sound too good to be true. At such times, students must ensure that they are not taken in by great sales pitches. The trick is to secure a credit card that seems affordable. For instance, there is no point in going in for a card that offers and initial interest-free period but whose interest rates later become much higher. Ideally, one must look out for cards offering lower rates of interest, say about 16 percent. A card that has a grace period for payment might be a good idea for those students who might have a tendency to default on the payments.

Ultimately, what matters is not how cheap the student credit card is. What matters is how well the student makes use of it. A student who is smart with his money would do well with credit card rewards. And one can always switch credit cards in between -- thanks to the rise of zero percent balance transfers.