What is a college student to do? Between the staggering tuition, the cost of keeping fed (Let's not talk about ramen. Let's just not.), and having a few bucks left over to take in an occasional movie, it's darned near impossible to make it out of school without amassing a healthy dose of debt. The trick though is to make sure the type of debt you take on isn't too deadly.
From the outset, you can give yourself a huge advantage over your peers by applying for as many grants and scholarships as you can dig up (within reason - don't go trying to rope in the Disabled Inuit Endowment unless you're 100% sure you're both disabled and Inuit). You can also cut down on the amount of loan money you'll need by taking on a part-time job, provided the job doesn't affect your performance in school. Another idea is to cut out things you don't actually need, such as cable. It might seem extreme, but think of how much more social you'll become right off the bat, having to ask members of the opposite sex if you can watch TV with them.
Unless your parents are footing the whole bill though, chances are you will have to take on some kind of debt. Government-subsidized student loans are generally the safest kind, but there are some private lenders that can be trusted as well. Given the well-publicized danger of their shadier brethren, however, you'll be well served to inquire about your school's 'preferred list' - a collection of approved lenders your college or university likely keeps a record of. Double check this list against your own research, which you can easily compile from the Internet.
Is having a credit card a good idea? The short answer is 'yes' - because it's wise to have something for emergencies, and to establish good credit at a young age - but it's critical to pay of your entire balance each month. Even if your back is really, really against the wall, find some way to at least make the minimum payment in order to keep your credit rating clean. Most entry-level cards don't offer the best interest rates, but if you can get something with a 0% introductory APR and a low-ish rate thereafter (13% is reasonable for now), you'll be ahead of the curve. If you're having any trouble figuring this out, ask your parents to help you pick the right card. Chances are they've been though all the fine print before, and they'll probably want to make sure you aren't doing something stupid that they'll have to bail you out of later anyway. (You'll have plenty of other opportunities for that.)
The most important thing to keep in mind is that you will have to pay every penny of this money back someday, so ensure every decision you make in taking on any debt is well calculated: Minimal overhead will be a life-saver; low-interest loans are better than unsecured credit card debt; and making regular payments is even more essential than picking the right major. Heck, everyone changes majors at least twice.
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