Pick the credit card with the best rate and lowest fees to use during college -- not the card with your school mascot on it.

Credit card companies typically bombard campuses at the start of the school year, offering students free T-shirts, hats and other giveaways for signing up for a card.

They're likely to be out in full force this fall, because it may be the last year they're able to target college students as easily for new cards.

That's because the new Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD) will make it harder for card providers to target younger users. It will take full effect early next year.

Once it does, credit card companies won't be able to offer free items for signing you up for a card if they're marketing to you on campus. And if you're 18 to 21, you won't be able to get a card without verifying your income or providing a cosigner.

The act should help curb credit card debt among college-age consumers, which has increased in recent years. A whopping 82% of college students don't pay off their balances each month, according to a study by Sallie Mae, the big student loan company.

The amount of debt they're accumulating has risen as well. By graduation, college students now carry an average balance of $4,100 on their credit cards. In 2004, the average balance at graduation was $2,900.

That's why it's important to shop around for a card that features low rates and reasonable terms -- not a ton of fanfare or reward points. (Trust us: You won't accumulate enough points to make it worthwhile.)

Seeing through all of the hype credit card companies aim at college students can literally save you hundreds of dollars a year.

You should look for a card that offers these three benefits:

No monthly or annual fees. More cards are now coming with them -- 27% of the offers mailed out in the first three months of 2009 included an annual fee, which can range from $24 to $72 a year. You also want to avoid cards with a minimum monthly finance charge of $2 to $6.

Free online access to your account. To avoid big surprises when the monthly statement arrives, you need to be able to track how much you're spending and what you're spending it on.

Reasonable interest rates. You may be able to find a student credit card that comes with a low, initial rate. Some even offer 0%. But after six months, that rate will most likely expire -- and increase.

You want to look for a student card that charges the prime rate, the rate banks charge their best commercial customers, plus a premium of anywhere from 5.99% to 12.99%.

With the prime at 3.25%, the best student card rate would be 9.24%, and anything below 15% is great.

However, rates have risen in the last year. So if you find a card with a rate in the 16% to 17% range, that's acceptable, too.

Ideally, you'll pay off your bill each month and the interest rate won't matter. But clearly, many students aren't doing that. So it's important to get a card with a good rate.

It's best to avoid credit cards with your school's mascot or logo.

Colleges make a lot of money from credit cards. The University of Michigan, for example, is earning $25.5 million from an 11-year contract with Bank of America to market school credit cards to alumni and students.

Unfortunately, there's nothing in those deals for you.

A Business Week study found schools usually foist credit cards with shockingly poor terms on their supporters.

You should also pay little attention to cards that promote elaborate reward programs.

Realistically, you're not going to be spending enough to earn a useful amount of points or miles until you graduate and land a full-time job. (You may not spend enough even then unless you do a lot of traveling.)

Right now, you need one card -- absolutely no more than two -- with reasonable terms.

Our extensive database of student credit card programs is a good place to find and compare all the different deals.

Our favorites include:

The State Farm Student Visa Card. No annual fee and a low interest rate of 11.99% APR.

The Discover Student Card. No annual fee, a 0% introductory rate for the first six months and 14.99% interest rate after the 0% teaser rate expires.

The Citi Forward Visa Card. No annual fee, a 0% introductory fee for the first six months and 16.24% on purchases after that. Your rate drops by 0.25% every three months up to a maximum reduction of 2%) if you stay under your credit line and pay on time three months in a row.

Click here for more advice on how to manage your credit cards like a pro.

By Erin Brereton

Interest.com Contributing Editor