<p>I am going to answer in general terms because I have two kids in college in two different states, neither one our home state.
What banks have the closest ATMs on campus, so your kid can get money without paying an ATM fee? Does bank have office near your home so you can easily put money in your kid’s account? For this reason one of my kids has account with Bank of America and the other has account with Wachovia. With a savings account/ATM, your kid will have to carry cash or be sure that every transaction can be paid with a debit card. Both of my kids have student checking accounts, because the are free and don’t have a minimum balance. I don’t think you want to have just an ATM card – both my kids have ATM/Visa. That way they can go out without a lot of cash.<br>
Not sure about needing to be a co-owner on a 17 year old. If you are a co-owner, you can keep track of your child’s account with on-line banking. Here, the big banks have free on-line banking with student accounts.
If your cell phone plan already has nationwide long distance, no roaming charges, blah, blah, blah, then there is no need to change cell phone plan. We have a family plan, so I see everbody’s calls. Most kids keep their home numbers. The apparent phone calls I see to NYC, New Hampshire, Colorado are the friends down the hall.</p>
<p>My son didn’t need to actually write checks until he was off campus and had to pay rent, utilities, etc.</p>