Now that you're about to head off to college for the first time, or back again, it's important to keep in mind the role credit plays in your college years. And since "Credit 101" isn't likely a required course in your college curriculum, you could use a credit primer.

1. The kids starting this Fall will be the first vintage of college students who can't get a credit card on their own because of the CARD Act. They'll either need a job or a co-signer. Co-signing is a bad idea because of the permanent liability they'll have for the card usage. It's best to have a parent add a child as an authorized user on one of their cards if they need plastic on campus.

2. For upperclassmen headed back to school, it's time to start thinking about what it takes to get a job after graduation. Keep in mind that the job market is bad right now, so having good credit is important. WHY? Because employers can review credit reports as part of pre-employment screening. A new graduate doesn't want to lose out on a job because of something silly on their credit reports, like an unpaid utility bill or collections because of bad checks. It's also why #3 below is important to start thinking about...

3. Card options. College students have many options as to what type of card(s) they can use: debit/check cards, credit cards, charge cards, retail cards, and pre-paid cards. All of these serve that same function to a great extent (giving you the ability to buy stuff without cash). Keep in mind that only retail cards, charge cards and credit cards will show up on your credit reports. That means if you only use debit cards or prepaid cards you won't have a credit report when you graduate, which could make it more expensive when you do start applying for loans in your early 20s. Think about establishing credit while you're in school so you can get a leg up.

4. There's a penalty for messing up. If you do poorly on a test you can make up for it on the next test. Messing up with your credit means 7 years of punishment. Negative items like collections, missed payments on credit cards, and defaulted utility obligations will remain on your credit reports for 7 years -- long after you've graduated. Don't mess up!!

John Ulzheimer – Credit scoring and credit reporting expert and author, John is the President of Consumer Education for Credit.com. Formerly with Equifax and Fair Isaac, John shares his unique insight of the inner workings of credit scoring models and the credit reporting industry on CreditBloggers.com.