 TITLE: Do Student Loans Help Build Credit? CONTENT: Other Ways to Build Credit as a Student\n---------------------------------------\nStudents, including those who haven't taken out student loans, can also look for additional ways to build credit. Here are a few popular ideas:\n*   **Become an authorized user****.** When someone adds you as an authorized user to one of their credit cards, the card account's history may be reported to the credit bureaus under your name as well. If the person has a history of on-time payments, this additional history could help bolster your credit. However, if the person misses a payment or uses a large portion of the available credit limit on their account, these negative factors could also impact your credit.\n*   **Open a student credit card****.** Some credit card issuers offer student credit cards, which tend to have easier qualification requirements than non-student cards. However, they're usually only available to students and may have a low credit limit. Using the card for a small purchase and then paying the bill in full each month can be an effective way to build positive credit history while avoiding interest.\n*   **Open a secured credit card****.** A secured credit card can also help you build your credit, or rebuild your credit if you've had credit troubles in the past. Secured credit cards don't require you to be a student, but you'll have to give the issuer a refundable security deposit which generally determines your account's credit limit. Depending on the card, you may get the security deposit back after responsibly using your card for several months, or when you close the account (assuming it doesn't have a remaining balance). As with other credit cards, try to use only a small portion of your credit line and pay your entire bill every month. END