College and the freedom associated with it provides you with a ton of fun opportunities: interesting classes, all kinds of clubs/extracurriculars, and late-night parties
But what isn’t fun about college is how broke you are ALL THE TIME.
And being broke makes you unable to enjoy many of the great activities and experiences college has to offer.
Spending your precious free time working a boring, low-paying job at a cash register might seem like the only way to get by as a student, but I can assure you that it isn’t.
There are a million different ways a college student such as yourself can make some extra money so your weekends aren’t spent commiserating about how broke and bored you are.
Most of these money-making methods are extremely easy, low-time commitment, or allow for a flexible schedule.
Some of them are actually quite fun!
Anyways, we’ve compiled some of the best ways college students can make money below.
1.) Chegg
Chegg is one of the most useful sites out there for college students.
You can find all kinds of notes, homework solutions, and other educational content to help you make it through your classes.
But if you’re a good student, Chegg may want to pay for your subject matter expertise.
That’s right; they hire tutors.
And since you tutor over the internet, you don’t need to head to some designated on-campus room to meet with your clients.
You can do everything from the comfort of your pajamas if you so please!
Not to mention that they let you set your own hours (within reason, of course).
With a work arrangement that convenient, there’s gotta be a catch, right?
They probably pay dirt.
Wrong!
Chegg pays their tutors $20 an hour.
To put the pay into perspective:
Spend 10 hours a week remotely helping other students from your home, and you’ll take home an extra $800 a month!
But the benefits don’t stop there.
Tutoring for Chegg has some other amazing perks, like
- Fairly easy approval process (if you qualify, that is)
- You choose the subjects YOU want to tutor in
- Referral bonuses
- No hard hourly requirements
Applying is quite simple:
- Be enrolled in or have completed a 4-year degree program
- Sign up for Chegg with Facebook or email
- Provide 2 forms of school ID/verification (more ID may be required for email signups)
- Take any proficiency tests Chegg gives to you (this depends on what subject(s) you chose)
There’s a lot of competition for these spots (duh, look at all the perks) and you only get one shot to apply, so make sure you REALLY stand out.
Overall, Chegg tutoring is one of the greatest gigs a college student can land, so we strongly recommend you apply if you excel in a certain subject.
2.) Be A Research Subject
Fine with being a human guinea pig?
Look into opportunities to be a research study subject.
At large, research-focused university, these opportunities should be everywhere.
One example would be fitness-related studies.
Chances are, your campus rec center has some sort of study going that’s related to human physical fitness.
Not only will they pay you to be a subject, but you’ll probably get quite a workout!
If you’re less physically-inclined, other research studies might have you do nothing more than fill out some forms and then hand you cash at the end.
Not a bad deal; contribute to advancing important university research and get paid for it!
3.) Return Those Cans And Bottles
At some point or another, you’ve attended a college party.
You might have even hosted one yourself!
Little did you know there’s money laying all around you the morning after that late-night social gathering in the form of empty cans and bottles.
If you live in a state where you can return your bottles and cans for money, don’t even think of throwing them away.
Instead, gather them up over the course of a couple months and cash out at the grocery store once you’ve accumulated a sufficient amount of cans.
So if you’re house/apartment is a frequent party spot, start cashing in!
4.) Walk Dogs
There aren’t too many other jobs that are as great as dog walking.
I mean think about it: you get fresh air, exercise, and you get to hang out with a bunch of dogs.
And you get paid for all this.
Try asking those in your apartment building/neighborhood if you can walk their dog for them for a few dollars.
If you want to expand your leads, consider posting about your dog-walking services in any “X University Class of Y” Facebook page associated with your school.
Chances are, you have busy classmates that would be willing to pay you a few bucks to take care of their pet while they’re in class.
5.) Sell Your Plasma
More and more college students are selling part of their body just to get by.
Ok, that was dark.
What they’re actually doing is donating their blood plasma to plasma donation centers and getting paid for it.
Plasma is used for a variety of rare diseases, as well as for burns.
And so, plasma donation centers desperately want your spare blood plasma (and they’re willing to pay you for it).
It’s not too bad of a gig; all you have to do is sit there and watch Netflix for an hour with a needle in your arm, then they’ll pay you.
Some plasma donation centers will pay you almost $100 a week for a few hours of your time!
Not a bad hourly rate.
For more information about donating your plasma, take a look at this article.
6.) Drive For Uber/Lyft
Uber and Lyft are great money-making opportunities for anyone that has a car and is willing to put some extra miles on it.
But college students have even more opportunities if they opt to drive for one of these companies.
Why?
Ridesharing can be so much more lucrative in college towns if you’re willing to sacrifice your Friday/Saturday night.
Just think of all your peers attending parties or hitting the bars without a designated driver or a plan to get home.
“Clock in” to Uber/Lyft starting around 9pm on a Friday night and you’ll be hit with an avalanche of ride requests from semi-intoxicated students and young professionals who need a comfortable method of transportation to their favorite drinking spots.
And if you’re willing to stay awake until 2AM, you’ll likely be giving non-stop rides until you can’t anymore.
It’s a great way to make money (and maybe get some entertainment from people that just left the bar).
Not to mention that you’re helping keep drunk drivers off the streets if you’re driving for Uber or Lyft on the weekends.
7.) Freelance
We’re talking about freelancing.
Freelancing is easier for students in creative disciplines (like writing or photography majors), but STEM students shouldn’t feel left out!
You can easily spend a few hours learning the basics of a skill and start searching for clients as soon as this week.
Oh, and when you’re applying to your first internship or full-time job, mention somewhere in your resume or cover letter that you do some freelance work.
Employers absolutely love to see students that take initiative and spend free time learning other valuable skills.
Now, one of the easiest freelancing services to pick up is writing.
Businesses everywhere need writers, so opportunities are endless.
Check out this post on how to start writing for pay.
Anyways…
Build your chosen freelance skill, and you could be making an entry-level salary from your dorm room before you even walk at commencement!
8.) Start A Blog
Fancy yourself a writer, but don’t want to seek out clients?
Rather write about what you find interesting?
Start a blog!
Your blog can be about anything.
Maybe you want to write about the struggles of being an engineering major (hey, engineering employers like to see engineers with a flair for good writing).
Or perhaps to you’d like to blog about a hobby of your’s that isn’t related to school.
Whatever you choose, the digital world is your oyster.
As for actually making money from your blogging efforts…
There are multiple ways to make some money from your blog:
- Ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Courses/info products
Monetizing a blog is simple, but it isn’t easy.
This is because it usually takes a few months before you get a decent amount of regular blog visitors.
And even then, you have to convert those visitors into buyers.
To speed up this process, share your blog on your social media accounts so all your classmates can see what you’re writing about.
Who knows: they might become fans or even customers of your blog!
Lastly, similar to freelancing, a blog is a huge positive to employers. Blogs (especially one’s that you monetize) show employers that you’re a driven, passionate, and creative individual.
That is, if your blog doesn’t explode in popularity and pay you six figures.
But that’s a story for another time.
The Opportunities Are Abundant… So Put Yourself Out There
There are endless ways to make money as a broke, “unskilled” student.
Unfortunately, many involve menial, low-paying work that locks you into a strict schedule with a rude boss.
But there are tons of flexible and fun opportunities if you spend a bit of time looking.
And many of them pay pretty well too!
Try some of these and put an end to your “broke college student” status.