Summary
CreditCards.com resources for shopping, learning about credit and managing debt during the back-to-school season.
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Please review our list of best credit cards, or use our CardMatch™ tool to find cards matched to your needs.
Your credit cards journey is officially underway.
Keep an eye on your inbox—we’ll be sending over your first message soon.
Back-to-school remains the second biggest consumer spending season for retailers, according to both Deloitte and the National Retail Federation. Overall, families will spend even more on back-to-school expenses this year than in 2016. For the 2017-18 school year, individual households will spend an average of $682.73 on back-to-school expenses, according to the 2017 National Retail Federation’s annual back-to-school survey. That amounts to $29.5 billion total spent on school supplies and related costs for K-12 students, up from $27.3 billion in 2016.
When combined with projected back-to-college spending totals, American consumers will spend a whopping $83.68 billion on school expenses this year overall, according to National Retail Federation estimates.
While the bulk of back-to-school shopping will happen in stores, online shopping continues to increase in popularity. Deloitte found that more than two-thirds of back-to-school shoppers will use both online and brick-and-mortar retailers to make their seasonal purchases.
Whether you are a parent getting ready to foot back-to-school bills or a young adult heading off to college, this collection of credit-oriented articles and videos will help you spend and use credit wisely this back-to-school season:
Back-to-school shopping
Back-to-school tax free weekends for 2017
Sixteen states have tax-free weekends that allow you to buy a wide range of school supplies without paying sales taxes. When is yours?
- 3 ways to boost back-to-school shopping rewards
- 5 apps to turbocharge back-to-school savings
- How to use credit card benefits, tax-free holidays to cut back-to-school expenses
Students and credit cards
Student card survey 2017: Offers, terms more generic
Cards marketed specifically to college students continue to dwindle, but those that remain offer academic incentives and rewards.
- 4 reasons why college kids need a credit card
- Student credit cards: The definitive guide
- Credit card tuition payment survey: Card acceptance rises, but so do fees
Payment security
Protect your child’s data, privacy at school: 5 tips
Cloud-based storage technology used in many schools puts data about your children onto remote servers. Here’s how to safeguard that information.
- How to check your child’s credit report
- 10 ways students can protect against identity theft
- Don’t be fooled by fake shopping apps
Financial literacy
Video: 4 ways students can build credit
New college students and recent graduates: Now is the time to build a credit history so you can qualify for a car loan, rent an apartment and achieve your financial goals.
Editorial Disclaimer
The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective assessment of our writers and is not driven by advertising dollars. It has not been provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners.
Join the Discussion
We encourage an active and insightful conversation among our users. Please help us keep our community civil and respectful. For your safety, do not disclose confidential or personal information such as bank account numbers or social security numbers. Anything you post may be disclosed, published, transmitted or reused.
The editorial content on CreditCards.com is not sponsored by any bank or credit card issuer. The journalists in the editorial department are separate from the company’s business operations. The comments posted below are not provided, reviewed or approved by any company mentioned in our editorial content. Additionally, any companies mentioned in the content do not assume responsibility to ensure that all posts and/or questions are answered.