<p>IMO AMEX is not a good choice of a credit card for a student. There are enough places that do not accept AMEX to require the student to carry a second card (Visa/MC), and the spending levels are unlikely to make it worth any reward program. There are pretty much only three selection criteria for student credit cards — wide acceptance (Visa and MC are the only ones who fall into that bin), zero annual fees, and as high an interest rate as possible. Yes, I said HIGH interest rate, so it makes carrying a balance hurt as much as possible. Carrying balance is a sucker’s game, and the sooner a student learns that the better off they are.</p>
<p>Having said that, for parents that are about to plunk down 52k/year in tuition+room+board, the AMEX Blue Cash Rewards cannot be beat, particularly when coupled with a Chase Freedom card. Max out on the three categories that AMEX pays the most, divert three other categories to Chase’s “Dynamic Rewards” program, and you are pulling in 5% rebate on gas, 3% rebate on 50-60% of your routine household expenses, and 1.5% on the tuition payments — you can’t do much better than that.</p>