TRiO

CREDIT REPORTS: 

Articles:

• About Credit Reports (Links to an external site.) - What's in it, how it's used, reporting agencies, how it's maintained, how to access it
• Ultimate Credit Report Cheat Sheet (Links to an external site.) - Comprehensive guide to help you understand your credit report

Resources:

• Request a free credit report (Links to an external site.) from any of the three reporting agencies (1 per year per agency)
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CREDIT SCORES:

Articles:

• Credit 101: Anatomy of a Credit Score (Links to an external site.)
• Your credit score: How it's calculated (Links to an external site.) (visual)

Resources:

• Credit Karma (Links to an external site.), Credit Sesame (Links to an external site.), and Credit Wise (Links to an external site.) all offer free accounts with approximate credit scores (just be careful--it's free because they'll try to get you to get credit cards that you might not want/need!). Mint.com (Links to an external site.) (budgeting app) also offers free scores.
• If you have any credit cards, check to see if they give you a free credit score! Discover, Citi, some Chase cards, Bank of America, Barclaycard, Commerce Bank, American Express, Capital One, First Bankcard, USAA Bank, US Bank, and Walmart are some of the credit card providers that do offer this free service