Money on a credit cards is never yours. Students should clearly understand that before getting their first card. It can be so easy to get into debt for young adults if they don't have money management experience. Parents can play big role in child's financial education, teach basic financial knowledge.

Plus shouldn't you have a steady job with an income if your going to dabble in credit cards. Students shouldn't get credit cards, their in school for cripes sake! They don't have a steady income yet.

I remember getting into bad debt while being in college with credit cards also. It's just really hard to avoid if you're busy studying and having fun and charging everything seems real easy. I had to get my folks to bail me out of debt a few times. If I didn't have that option things could have gone real bad. If you really want to build some credit history I would agree with Secured credit cards.
Prepaid Cards do nothing for your credit history and are really just for those who don't qualify for anything else. Good luck!

I think for a student it would be an ideal solution to get a credit card which offers 0 annual fee and the lowest interest rate. Barclaycard use this credit card.

Don't mean to duplicate posts, but my response on very first credit card has some comments that relate directly to this post.

I got my first credit card in my first year of college. There were offers around every corner (something quite disgusting for college students who typically have little wherewithal or knowledge on how to properly manage a credit card), so it was (and is) important to pick a credit card that is right for your lifestyle whether that be mileage benefits, cash rewards, or other rewards programs. At the time, I didn't even have to provide any documentation showing what my income was in order to determine how much credit I could qualify for. Why is that okay? From the get-go, many companies are setting you up for failure. Why wouldn't a college student with little income per month not say 'sure, I'll take $2,000 of credit!'? 'It's okay, I'll just pay it back when I get that great job'...

With that said, there are lots of good cards available (Chase Freedom card can be good for cash rewards). Try going to Bankrate.com to evaluate different credit card offers depending on your needs and if you want cash rewards or mileage from major airlines.
Pay the credit card in full EVERY month, so you don't carry a balance. Otherwise, the interest that most of the cards charge will far surpass any reward/benefit you would have otherwise received.

Be careful when using credit, and carefully consider your ability to afford what you purchase, as it is too easy to get trapped by spending too much since access to credit can be very easy, but it most assuredly is not cheap.

Use a program like Quicken, Mint.com, Yodlee.com, etc. to get a good idea of what you really can afford each month, and then pay the card in full at the end of the month. The hardest thing about having a credit card is learning the discipline to not overextend yourself.

Since you are so young you should go easy on credit cards. If you decide to get one to build credit, be very responsible. Don't go overboard on the spending and as far as possible pay off most of your debts in full. Trust me you don't want to get into the debt trap at this age. There are various types of student credit cards.

Good luck.