For those of you who are concerned about your FICO score (which is probably everybody), there is some good news and some bad news.
First the good news.
The Fair Issac Corporation — who created the FICO score used by almost every lender for determining your credit standing — is updating how it compiles your score. The new score, called FICO 08, still has the same range (300 to 850) but it will now take more of a big picture approach to your credit situation. This means that small, isolated mistakes are less harmful, but patterns of repeat negligence are more harmful. Additionally, the new score is more sensitive to different kinds of debt: the "good" kind (mortgages and student loans), and "bad" kind (auto loans and credit card debt). For a full description, check out this Wall Street Journal article.
Now the bad news.
Experian, one of the three companies who contribute data to the overall FICO score, is no longer providing this information to consumers as of February 14th. Lenders will still have access to the Experian portion of the FICO score, but we will not. Pretty criminal if you ask me.
So if you want to get the full set of data that makes up your credit score, make sure you do it before the 14th. After that point, you will only have access to the Transunion and Equifax data within your FICO score.
Also, something I need to mention: As you look into getting your credit score, do beware of scams. Often times a site will say it offers your score for free, but you'll be automatically enrolled in some other crap that has a monthly or annual fee. And make sure you're getting your credit score, not just the report. The two are different. The report is just the credit history, while the score is the specific FICO number compiled from that data.
If you want just the report, go to Annual Credit Report. It's the site for the government program that grants you 1 free report every 12 months.
If you want the score, I'd recommend myFICO. You are basically going to the source, and they have a few different credit score packages to choose from. (To see how the Experian situation affects their packages post-Feb. 14th, read this notice.) They also have some good resources about understanding and improving your credit score once you receive it.
If you have Bank of America checking, then look into their Privacy Assist program. It has a free trial, so you can just get your score, and then cancel the monitoring before the 30 days are up. So that basically gives you a free score (just remember to cancel!).
The more you know.