By Financial strain and a lack of credit literacy have steadily fueled a growing reliance on credit cards among college students.
U.S. News conducted a nationwide survey of 1,200 college students via PureSpectrum between Aug. 21 and Aug. 25, 2026. We asked students questions about their credit card spending and any corresponding debt.
Credit Card Use
Credit card use among college students has steadily increased. In the past year, 75% of college students report they have put core college expenses – like tuition or textbooks – on a credit card.
About 85% of college students acknowledge they have used their credit card because they didn’t have enough money in their checking or savings account to cover an expense. And 54% of upperclassmen used their credit cards more this year than they did last year.
The most common type of credit card college students have is, unsurprisingly, a student credit card (42%). Other types of credit cards students have are cash back (26%), secured (20%) and rewards (12%).
Most students (87%) applied for a credit card on their own without the aid of a parent or guardian adding them as an authorized user. Which means only 13% of college students might have gotten a leg up on their credit-building before the age of 18.
What’s more, the age college students applied for their first credit card is divided mostly into two groups: 18 (27%) and 22 or older (21%). However, those percentages vary slightly when you compare Pell Grant recipients to students who did not receive the Pell Grant.
About 25% of Pell Grant recipients got their first credit card at 18, whereas 30% of non-Pell Grant recipients got theirs at the same age. This indicates more non-Pell Grant recipients had a slight head start on building credit in comparison with their Pell-Grant-recipient counterparts.
Zooming back out, the most common credit limit on that first credit card was $201 to $500 (40%), followed by $501 to $1,000 (30%). And when asked to rank the main reasons they use a credit card:
- 71% say to build credit
- 43% say to cover expenses when I don’t have enough cash
- 54% say for emergencies
How Much Credit Card Debt Do College Students Have?
According to a similar U.S. News survey in 2023, 42% of college students said they had credit card debt. Today, that number is 89% – an increase of more than double in just three years.
Most students (35%) have a credit card balance of no more than $1,000, but the increase in students carrying debt is staggering nonetheless.
Pell Grant recipients are also more likely to have credit card debt than non-Pell grant recipients, with 91% reporting they carry debt versus 85%, respectively.
Of those that carry a balance, students overwhelmingly say food costs (61%), unexpected expenses (52%) and rent or housing costs (39%) are the reasons why.
However, for students who live at home instead of in a dorm or off-campus apartment, their reasons vary ever so slightly. Since they don’t have to worry as much about rent or housing costs, they list their top reasons as food costs (58%), unexpected expenses (51%), and tuition or education costs (39%).
Factors Affecting Debt Repayment
Almost half of all college students (49%) receive some kind of help with their credit card bill from their parents/guardians. More Pell Grant recipients receive help from their parents/guardians than non-Pell Grant recipients.
A slightly higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients say their credit card bill is more likely to be paid in full every month.
Like the rest of the U.S., college students are feeling those higher prices at the grocery store. When asked what expenses are the most difficult to afford, 63% said food, followed by housing (47%) and utilities (35%).
For students who live with their parents/guardians, their most difficult expenses to afford were food (58%), education (42%) and then housing (37%). This implies that while these students may live at home, they may not be doing so rent-free.
Misconceptions About Credit
To gauge how much survey respondents understand credit, we asked them a few questions about credit and credit cards. While all the respondents had a credit card, not enough knew the basics about credit.
- Credit scores. When asked what a credit score measures, only 20% of college students choose the correct answer.
- Credit utilization ratio. Optimistically, 48% choose correctly and say your credit utilization is the percentage of your credit limit that you’re using. But when separated by grade level, 52% of upperclassmen don’t know what a credit utilization ratio is.
- Revolving balances. About 12% mistakenly think paying your credit card balance in full can negatively affect your credit score.
Overall, the responses aren’t too surprising for young adults who may have limited exposure to credit and how it works. But a continued lack of knowledge can and will lead to poor financial decisions in the future.
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