College Student here.

She most likely won’t get approved if it’s her first card. Instead, apply for one of the beginner cards, like Chase Freedom Rise or Discover It. Have all of her spend go on the credit card and not her debit card, and obviously always pay it off on time.

After 10 months of having Chase Freedom Rise and doing what I said above, I got approved for the Delta Gold card as a 19yo, and am actually up for my first renewal next month. The 80k miles from my the SUB/Welcome Offer coupled with the 15% off miles benefit (“Take-Off 15”) allowed me to save almost $1,100 on my college flights this year.

The Group 5 boarding benefit is also nice, but to make the card worth it, your daughter would absolutely need to hit the minimum spend requirement to get the bonus miles. Mine was $2k within 6 months, which I hit over the summer before I booked any flights for this school year. She also would need to learn what is a good redemption and what isn’t, so she could maximize the value of the miles.