College can be expensive, meaning you need some ways to make some money while you’re going to school- or even get paid to go to school.
I mean, unless you’re really eager to build up some high student loan debt (unlikely).
As of the class of 2015, it was estimated that the graduates would have over $35,000 in student loan debts!
If that’s not a reason to start offsetting the costs of college on your very first day as a freshman, then nothing will convince you.
Yes, you guessed it – we’re talking about one of our favorite things: starting a side hustle!
All you need to make money in college is your time and a computer, which you have already!
With your own schedule set and dorm room decorated, it’s time to start using your dorm room as a moneymaker instead of a money waster.
Quick Picks
Here’s a short list of our top money-makers, the best side hustles you can start today as a student:
- Best Passive Income – Blogging
- Most Fun Job – Dog Walking
- Best-Paying Side Hustle – Facebook Ads
- Fastest Money-Maker – Online Surveys
Get FREE access to our step-by-step plan for starting a blog that makes $1,000 per month.
How to Make Money In College
This is a list of our favorite quick and easy ideas to make money in college that literally anyone could manage while taking classes and even after you graduate.
While some of them require a little more time investment before you see significant returns, the best part is that you could even do a mix of all of them if you’re serious about finding out how to make extra money fast.
You could even make your college schedule fit around your side hustles if that works out best for you — switch to mainly afternoon and evening classes if possible, and boom, work on your side hustle in the morning.
The flexibility of these 10 money-making sites makes them perfect for most college students!
1. Start A Shopify Store
Do your dorm mates think you come up with the funniest sayings? Have you ever thought about putting them on a shirt and making money?
Shopify is perfect for setting up your very own e-commerce store. Shopify is definitely a brand that you can trust.
They have amazing customer service, and they have been the leader in e-commerce platforms for years.
You could even collaborate with your dorm mates and start a business, as Mark Zuckerberg did in college.
2. Start A Money-Making Blog
Starting a blog in college is perfect and I wish we had started our blog to make money in college!
You already have a huge advantage on the market because you read blogs every day. You can easily write content about your life and ways to make college easier.
All you need to start a blog is a passion; everyone has one of those!
Find your niche and market your content to a certain group of people. How can you solve their problem? Earn money through affiliate marketing, ads, and sponsored posts.
Follow this step-by-step tutorial on how to start a money-making blog today!
3. Take Online Surveys & Play Games
We all play games on our phones and answer Buzzfeed surveys for un, but what about getting paid for it?
College students can easily join survey sites and make money waiting in line for food, waiting for your professor to show up, or any other free time you have.
Here are my favorite survey sites that pay you for easy fun:
Swagbucks
We love using Swagbucks to make money because they have multiple opportunities to earn cash. One way to earn cash is through surveys.
Each survey takes about 20 minutes, and they try to match the survey to your interests, so you are not wasting your time.
The second opportunity to earn is by having the Swagbucks Google extension installed. Earn Swagbucks by watching movies and shopping through Amazon. Isn’t that what college students already do?
Get paid to do it!
Swagbucks will pay you in gift cards like Amazon, Target, Walmart, and even PayPal. For about every 100 Swagbucks, it is equivalent to $1.00.
You can sign-up here and earn a $10 bonus using our exclusive link.
InboxDollars
With over $50 million dollars paid out to consumers, you will not want to miss out on InboxDollars!
Get paid for “stuff” you’re already doing; playing games, watching videos, shopping, and giving your opinion through surveys.
You can get updates to your email when offers are available for you, so you don’t miss out on any opportunities to make more money in college, no matter how busy you get.
Sign up today with InboxDollars and earn $5 for free using our exclusive link.
4. Proofread Work & Content For Others
Becoming a proofreader may be your most lucrative business as a student and make you extra money in no time!
Proofreaders edit content before it’s published- or turned in to professors! You’d check work for spelling and grammar errors and polish up content.
You can make $25+ per hour as a proofreader, even with no experience. And if you want to learn how to be a successful proofreader, you can take a free proofreading workshop here.
It’ll help you practice your proofreading and get skilled at finding errors, plus it can teach you how to find clients online and not just on campus.
5. Manage Facebook Ads For Businesses
Would you like to make a few thousand dollars a month? It’s totally possible if you learn how to manage Facebook ads!
Online ads are huge money-makers for businesses, and they’re willing to pay someone to create and maintain their ads.
You can develop ads, analyze how effective they are, and make changes in order to bring in more customers for businesses.
Kelan got paid to post ads online for a while as s side hustle, and he learned from the best!
He took a free workshop from FB Side Hustle, where the guys make $30K per month running Facebook ads.
6. Start A Successful YouTube Channel (Makes $1,000+ Per Video!)
Since we talked about blogging about your passions, we can’t ignore vlogging as a great money-maker for college students.
Starting a YouTube Channel has helped people make thousands per month, and you can create successful videos that make money.
Now we love our blog, but we’re building up our social reach by dedicating time to our YouTube Channel! We’ve been learning the best way to create and monetize content from Mastering YouTube.
Erika started out as a total newbie like us, and she figured out strategies and grew up to thousands of views per day- earning her $1,000+ from YouTube every month!
7. Get Cash Back On Receipts & Online Shopping
Do you do the grocery shopping for your rommates? No? Well, you are going to start after you sign-up for Fetch Rewards!
Fetch Rewards is a cash back app that will pay you for not only your in-store purchases but also your online shopping.
Cash back is basically getting money for spending money like normal. When you get back from the store, you take a picture of your receipt, and you get points with Fetch Rewards.
Those points turn into extra cash in the form of gift cards and other goodies, and my favorite payouts are the Amazon and Starbucks gift cards.
Refer your fellow students about Fetch, and when they join, you all have the potential to earn extra cash back in referrals!
You can read our Fetch Rewards Review and find out more about the app.
8. Product Testing
With Pinecone Research, you can evaluate products before they hit the shelf! Test out and give your opinions on products and earn points.
After you have acquired enough points, you can redeem them for prizes or cash (Paypal or check).
The first 300 points you earn will automatically be redeemed as a check and sent to your home address.
Maybe let your parents know it is on the way so they do not trash it as junk before you get back home on the next break.
9. Online Tutoring Services With BookNook
Calling all graduate students! Did you go to school for education? Maybe you worked as a teaching assistant while in college?
All you need is a Bachelor’s degree and experience working with teaching to earn money as a BookNook tutor.
Over at BookNook, you can teach children ages 18 months to 12 years old in reading and math. You’ll have all the curriculum provided and small groups to engage with rather than tutoring younger students by yourself.
I used to be a teacher, so I know how hard it can be to find a job that fits your schedule. Working part-time as a BookNook tutor, you can continue to grow your teaching experience and make extra money at the same time.
At $15 -$22 per hour, you can set up a “virtual classroom” just about anywhere. The more experience you have with children, the higher your pay.
For college students still working on their degrees, you can still offer tutoring services to other students in classes you’ve aced by connecting on social media. Your professors can even recommend you in the syllabus if you were a good student!
10. Freelancing
In general, the best way to make money in college- and in life!- is to monetize your skills.
College students are developing many new skills- no doubt you have many high-paying skills!
You can become a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, writer, data entry worker, and so much more.
You can become a freelancer at any point and offer as many services as you want. You’ll have the freedom to pick projects you like and still have time for classes and homework.
Sign up with sites like FlexJobs to look for freelancing jobs and apply, plus you can create a professional profile where you can promote your services to thousands of clients.
Many companies will hire college students, and even if you’re new to the field, you should apply and reach out for an interview!
11. Do Micro-Tasks On Amazon
Have you heard of micro tasks before?
Freelancing comes in many forms, but doing small odd jobs has taken on a new face!
Amazon Mechanical Turk is the biggest place for microtasks- they are a marketplace for people to do jobs like answer calls, type data, and more.
Businesses post jobs (similar to Fiverr or FlexJobs), and they’ll hire college students and more if the application looks good. These jobs take less time, so a few odd jobs in an hour can be a few bucks in your wallet.
The jobs can be from a variety of tasks (all micro, of course!) and can sometimes take just a few minutes
12. Online Chat Jobs
With a solid internet connection and speedy typing, college students can work as chat agents to make money quickly from home.
Online chat jobs are usually customer service positions, where you answer questions for customers or check information on their account.
Chat jobs versus phone jobs mean that you don’t have to be on the phone all day- and if you equate customer service with being yelled at, don’t worry about it with these jobs!
You may still deal with a tough client or a problem that stumps you, but most chats are simple and to the point, so we recommend giving this a shot to make money online.
13. Get An Internship
Now some college students are already required to get an internship, but if not, you should consider finding an internship or co-op ASAP.
A co-op is a great job because you 1) get paid and 2) get work experience that’s relative to your degree.
It’s work you can put on your resume that’s specific to your career goals!
Or, like some of my friends, you get a great and well-paid internship and make it a test run to see if you actually like it enough to make a career out of it.
14. Sell Old Textbooks
There are easy picks of side hustles and online jobs for college students to pick from, including getting rid of stuff you don’t need anymore.
No doubt you have plenty of old textbooks laying around- and they could be wasted money chilling!
Sell your textbooks for extra money- my college had a buying group specifically for students to sell stuff on campus, so see if you do too!
If not, you can sell your textbooks online with sellbackyourBook.com, which gives your an instant quote and ships your books for free.
15. Dog Walking & Pet Sitting
College students don’t always see the light of day, and I know sometimes you need to have fun- even while you make extra money.
Working from home is great, but I know we all need a chance to get out of the house- even for just a walk!
Why not take a break from your classes and school work by hanging out with some furry friends?
Pet sitting can be as easy as just sitting with someone’s dog for a few hours or staying overnight, so their dog isn’t lonely. Super simple!
Dog walking can be a bit more effort, but it doesn’t hurt to get out of your dorm room and get some exercise under the sun.
You can start walking dogs and pet sitting for $20 an hour, and Rover is the best way to connect with pet owners and find paying gigs quickly.
16. Babysitting
I know this one may seem weird for college students, but babysitting is a classic part-time job that pays well.
I started babysitting in middle school, and it was such an easy got-to job to get extra money.
You can start with people you know, posting on social media about babysitting for friends or even connecting with other students- some of them are parents, after all!
You can also join Care.com to connect with parents looking for a sitter,
17. Work As A Restaurant Server
Working in a restaurant is a pretty typical part-time job for making money in college.
You can usually find tons of restaurants near college campuses where you can apply for jobs. And there may be places to work on your college campus too, which makes things easier for you.
Many restaurants in a college town will be flexible for students, and most of my friends were able to have flexible hours and even worked fewer hours during exam weeks.
The hourly wages may not be the best, but if you work popular nights, like Friday and Saturday, you can sometimes earn $200+ in tips for a 5 hours shift.
18. Get On-Campus Jobs
Now that we’ve talked about a ton of jobs you can start on your own, find online, with local businesses, etc., we also want to remind you that college campuses offer jobs too!
You can ask your advisor where to look for on-campus jobs, but I can guarantee that there will be jobs posted throughout the year somewhere online.
You could become a teaching assistant for a class you did well in, or you can become a tour guide for prospective students.
If you want some other options, our college had jobs posted for notetakers for other students, office workers/secretaries, campus custodial services, delivery walkers, and more.
I worked in my school’s financial aid office as a tour guide, and I honestly used the chance to make extra money as well as find out more about scholarships- double win!!
19. Become A Resident Assistant (RA)
Becoming a resident assistant (RA) is another on-campus job, but I had to give it its own section because it can be life-changing for some students.
You can become an RA, and while it isn’t exactly a way to make money in college, you get more “payout” in the long run: you actually get free room and board instead!
As an RA, you help students who live on your floor, create group activities and ice breakers, and help handle any conflict between students- like when someone leaves the common room a mess or plays loud music at 2 am.
It can be a lot of work, and you even have office hours like a professor, but you can save thousands of dollars by not paying for your room or food!
Final Thoughts
So if you aren’t yet, get going!
Your parents will get off your back because you will be able to show you are making money! Plus this work experience will be perfect to add to a resume and stay comfy in your dorm room.
Just think of how impressive it would look if you could tell a future employer that you started your own business in college!
And if you do well enough with that business, you might not even need to look for a job but instead could be working for yourself from home!
