Essentially, no one can legally change the contents of that report and everything remains in there for up to a decade. Thus, it is important to maintain a healthy credit report by making payments on time, starting with your student credit card. Having a good credit report has a huge impact on loans and on future applications for other forms of credit services, including other credit cards. For instance, low APR cards are everybody's favorite but they are usually reserved only for those with good or excellent credit histories.
In order to acquire an excellent credit history, it is best to pay up your monthly outstanding balances before they are due. This may be harder to achieve if you are a student as you do not have steady income and therefore need to plan your expenditure accordingly. Use your credit card only when you really need it, and set payment reminders in your personal calendar each month.
Some students practice credit card surfing by using a 0% APR student credit card, maxing out the credit limit and getting a new card for their upcoming expenses. This does huge damage to your credit report as you are basically living off debt even before you have the ability to earn your first paycheck. What's more, when the 0% APR term is over, your interest rates will escalate and your debt will snowball rapidly. At this point, your credit report will be tarnished, leaving you with a pile of debt that you struggle to pay off and high interest rates for future credit applications. Your only option now would be to adopt a credit repair strategy, which will most likely be painful on your ludicrous lifestyle.
Adam Goldman recommends Find Credit Cards to find a Discover student rewards card.