This summer will surely wind down as quickly as it came upon us and before long college students will be heading off to school – perhaps for the first time. This is a huge transition period for students and parents alike and requires enormous adjustment on many fronts. For college students that are just leaving home this experience will often mark the first time that they are without their parents on a daily basis and they will, for the first time, need to consider those things to which they may not have given much thought previously.

Finances, for sure, are something that a new college student must consider; especially if they are not used to budgeting their money or paying bills on their own. While mom and dad will oftentimes subsidize most of the expenses associated with college life, that money only goes so far and it’s up to the student to make ends meet in the most responsible way possible. If you have had lines of credit up until this point, it may be a good time to pull your free credit report to make sure you are in good financial standing prior to starting the school year.

Our credit report is held by three large credit bureaus that are basically a clearing house for all our financial history. All the information together determines our credit score – a score that is lowered for late payments, high debt to income ratio, or loan defaults – and potential lenders use this credit score to decide whether they will provide us with a line of credit.

While it may not seem like a priority to check your free credit report while you’re still in college, it’s actually the perfect time. The college years are when many young people get themselves in financial trouble and impact their credit report before they ever leave school. By getting a copy of your free credit report you can see where you are in terms of creditworthiness and either take the steps to improve your score or make responsible decisions that will maintain your score. All of which will prepare you for life after college.

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