
What are some of the best ways college students make money while going to college?
Below you’ll find some great ideas that students can use to make some extra cash after class.
I personally did about half of these jobs while going to CSU (Colorado State University), but I wish I would have done the last one instead. What can you say, hindsight’s always 20/20.
If you need a bit of motivation before you get to work, read this quick quote for some inspiration.
“Do today what others will not do, so that tomorrow you will have what others will not have” – author unknown
OK, now on to the jobs…
15 +1 Ways College Students Make Money:
1. Waiter/Waitress:
Find a popular restaurant and let your personality shine through. Tips are great and you’ll never know what kind of networking connection you can make.
2. Fast Food Industry:
Not the best work, but you can almost always find something and it’s reliable.
3. Deliver Pizzas:
This was one of my go-to college jobs. Get free pizza and soda and the tips are always fairly decent when bringing someone a hot and delicious pizza pie.
4. Telemarketing:
Telemarketing sucks, but you can get consistent work, and often times you can make sales bonuses.
You know what telemarketing did for me? A lot. I went from a somewhat shy college student to a guy who could talk about anything and sell products fairly well.
I hated telemarketing, but being able to cold call someone and turn them into a warm lead is an amazing skill set to have. That’s one of the best skills you can have in most any future job, especially if you plan to create your own business someday.
5. Campus Work:
You can always find work in college dorms, food-courts, athletic departments, etc. It may not pay the best but it’s hard to beat the location.
6. Tutoring other Students:
Look into whatever field of study you’re into and see if they need tutors to help new students. If you’ve got a special gift in math or science, this could be a great way to make some extra side cash while helping others.
7. Care Provider, Nursing Assistant:
I did this job for several years and the nice thing about it is that it pays. You can typically earn double the minimum wage depending on your skill level.
Many nursing assistant programs will actually pay for your time and education to take the training to get state certified. This also looks good on resumes.
8. Selling Your Past Papers/Class Notes:
If you take organized notes, this could be great way to make some residual income off the work you once did.
I love this concept and I now do this online, you’ve got to appreciate this.
You can take your notes, copy them, advertise them on a school board/website and let lazy students be your clients. As long as the class curriculum doesn’t change too much, you’ve got a winner.
9. Donating Blood or Plasma:
Blood and plasma are always in demand and so this can be a stable way for you to make some extra cash from your DNA.
10. Baby/Pet/House Sitting:
Out of these three options, strive to be a house sitter. This is a great college job because you can get a ton of homework done while watching someone’s place.
Just put up an ad in your local paper or craigslist and screen your clients. Establish trust with them and you’re good to go.
11. Be a Laboratory Guinea Pig:
Most college science departments can hook you up with this kind of job. Just make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before you sign up.
12. Be the Designated Driver for Friends:
When your friends go out to party, let them know that you’ll be the designated driver if every person pitches in 20 dollars. If you’ve got 3 friends going out, you can make a quick $60 and be assured your friends will arrive home safe.
13. University Research Questionnaires:
Again, hit the university Psychology and Human Behavioral Science departments and see if they need help.
14. Class Notes Service:
Hit up your friends and offer a service to type up your classmate’s papers for a small fee.
15. Participate in Psychology Experiments:
Same concept as above.
+ 1. Start a Simple Online Business:
All of the first 15 jobs will definitely fill your pockets with a little green, but if I could go back to college, this is what I would have done.
I would have started a simple only business based on something I love. It’s not really hard now that I know what’s involved, it’s a no brainer.
Essentially it starts out like writing book reports and doing things like YouTube videos.
But the concept is simple:
- Find a niche idea.
- Build a website.
- Bring in traffic to the site.
- Refer that traffic to a helpful product based on the niche.
It’s pretty easy really and any college student can do it.
Once you get your own affiliate marketing niche website built, it’s just a matter of scaling the business to make more money.
Think Outside the Box!
If you work at this during your spare time, consistently and with the same diligence you put into your college courses, you’d be amazed at what you can create.
You could have an online business that produces you $2,000 to $10,000 per month by the time you graduate college.
How awesome would that be? Let me show you how it works.
College Students and Online Business:
College students are smart and have excellent skills to create their own online business. Many already know how to start a blog or website.
But it takes a bit more than that to make consistent money online.
It’s a cumulative process of learning to…
- Find out what people are Googling within a specific niche.
- Targeting and ranking content based on the topic in Google.
- Referring that FREE traffic to a helpful product.
- Making commissions of online sales.
The process really isn’t too difficult, especially if you break it down into daily tasks. This is what I did using the help of a professional educational system called Wealthy Affiliate.
They have created two first-class educational programs to teach website development and finding your niche.
You’ll then learn search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to get your site ranked and on page one of Google. As well as how to write content that converts into sales, all while providing a warm and inviting environment for new students to learn.
What Kind of Classes Do They Have:
Wealthy Affiliate provides video style classrooms that can be taken at your leisure. You have step by step instructions to get things done on a daily basis.
It’s no different than taking college classes, except it’s more interesting. Plus you’re building your own business at the same time.
This will ensure that you complete each step correctly so that you will achieve top Google rankings and not commit costly errors as you build your website/business.
Check out an example of classroom sessions in the video below. You’ll get a better idea of the style and format that you can use to learn to create your own online business.
Hit the link, it will take you to the classroom, then hit play again for the video.
How Much Time Does It Take?
Well, that depends on the number of credits and classes you’re taking. You’ve got to balance in life and education together.
But let me ask you a couple of questions.
- Do you spend a couple of hours per day on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram?
- Do you watch TV a couple of hours a day?
If your answer is yes, then you have time.
All you need is to set a specific amount of time per week and stick to it. I recommend at least dedicating 10 hours/week. Two hours a day for 5 days/week, or you could do it on the weekend.
Better yet, think of your time as an investment in your future. Once you have your website up and running, you will reap the rewards of an online income.
How Much Does an Online Business Cost?
Most businesses take a good amount of initial start-up capital to get going. But with an online business, this can be minimized.
With Wealthy Affiliate, they have two options. A Free Membership that allows you to sit in on 10 introductory classes, put up 2 free websites, watch video Webinars, and attend training classrooms.
You don’t get all the convenience and benefits of a Premium Membership, but enough to get started.
The Premium Membership costs $49/month or you can do a yearly fee of $359 (a little bit under $30/month).
The chart below compares the two memberships and displays what they each offer. Take a look for further details.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the average yearly costs for tuition, room & board in the 2017-2018 year was $34,740 at private colleges, $9,970 for state residents at public colleges, and $25,620
When you compare this with the yearly Wealthy Affiliate fees of $359 dollars, it’s pretty much close to nothing for a proper education.
Should You Forget About College?
You might even be tempted to forget college and pursue Internet Marketing as a full-time career. The information that Wealthy Affiliate teaches is at university level standards.
When you compare your college courses with what you can learn using the WA program, there’s no comparison.
Take a look at what my young friend Jerry has accomplished.
Spend 10 – 20 thousand dollars per year, or $359 dollars. Plus think of the amount of debt that most college students end up accumulating.
Is it starting to make sense?
It did for this young student who dropped out of college at age 18.
College Drop-Out from Taiwan is Killing it with His Online Business:
What’s even better is Jerry’s September check was just under $4,800.
What’s the Big Picture Here?
You’re going to college to find a career that you will enjoy and that will make you money.
Why pay thousands of dollars, accumulate a ridiculous amount of debt, and spend 4-8 years of your life learning subjects that you most likely won’t apply in the real world.
At the same time, for a fraction of the money, you’ll spend on college, you can take what you learn on a daily basis and build a business that will provide you with income for years to come.
Regardless of whatever field you study, there will be some aspect of your career that will involve the internet or an online presence in the future.
Get Ahead of the Game:
Learn these skills now and you will be way ahead of the game.
Take advantage of learning how to do online marketing, website development, and using your own critical thinking skills.
All of these things will make you a more marketable young professional. And the cost is next to nothing when you compare it to a typical college education.
I graduated from Colorado State University with a major in Occupational Therapy and a minor in Anatomy. I spent way over $50,000 on my education. Granted I had a good career, but I could have had so much more if I started learning these concepts at an earlier stage in life.
If you want to learn how to create your own online business through a professional educational platform, now’s a great time to start.
Wealthy Affiliate provides a revolutionary online platform and community. Discover their innovative approach to building online wealth today. Anyone can do it, especially college students.
Here’s My Top Recommended Program >>
If you have any comments about our list of awesome ways college students make money, let me know what’s on your mind and I’ll get back to you right away.
If you use the Internet a lot, and you’re a college student, then odds are that you’re probably a good typist.
You can capitalize on this by creating a niche blog that your interested in. You can make money in a number of ways.
I know all this and do like your recommendation of Wealthy Affiliate. I just don’t have the time to write all the content. I can write some, but it takes time.
Besides Wealthy Affiliate’s training program, do you have any recommendation for pre-made niche sites or original content creators that could help this part of the process for me.
I’m in college now and so time is a bit limited, but I do want to learn this and think this will enhance my skills once I graduate college.
Thanks,
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
I hear you, it can be tough to juggle college while creating an online business.
I do have an excellent recommendation for you. Human Proof Designs has keyword packages, original content packages, and an entire service to create a niche website so you can start earning while in college.
You still need the SEO skills and know-how to edit content, and for that you should get hooked up with Wealthy Affiliate.
I went to college for 7 years and spent over 50K, boy I could have done better going with Wealthy Affiliate’s college like education instead.
Cheers,
Todd
Now a days it is not hard to earn money online but we need some skills and hard work and also have to spend some time developing those skills. Not too different than going to college.
What I like about Wealthy Affiliate’s training center is that it’s online classroom structure and the amazing support. I have found this most helpful when creating my online business.
Really great post and for those college students who want to make extra money, start with a niche website based on something that you’re studying or interested in, then by the time you graduate, you’ll have an online business and not worry about getting a job.
Great points Rand, much appreciated. Those college students who want to check out the Wealthy Affiliate Memberships, there’s absolutely no risk to check them out for free.
Cheers,
Todd
Awesome article! I totally agree with the first step being a part-time job. When I was attending university I worked a part time job at the front desk and it certainly helped me make some walk around money that was steady. Also a lot of the time with these jobs you can make your own schedule.
Another thing I did where I made a surprising amount of money was just selling my used books and dvds and stuff online. Here is the link of the site I used if anyone is interested: wwwbonavendi.com its free and basically you could sell just about anything and it does a price comparison from different sites to show which will offer you the most money for your stuff.
I would also recommend being productive and joining a lot of extracurricular clubs and intramural sports if that is something you are into. I think in college you really find out how important it is to meet people and network, I made some money doing freelance work for a production company simply because I made friends with a guy whose dad owned the company. I would never have met him if I wasnt involved in a entrepreneurial club at my university. I would def recommend getting involved.
This article was great, if you take advantage of this stuff you will be fine! and have multiple means of income.
Cheers!
Some great suggestions Ryan, thanks for the feedback. Personally, if I was 20 y.o and just getting started with college and didn’t want to rack up the 100K college loan debt, I’d go with a niche online business.
This student at our online training program did this and he was able to pay off all his student loans in a year and by month 11, he was making over $4,300/mo. Not many college students can say that. Read his story right here in this post called How To Pay Off Your Student Loans.
Thanks,
Todd
Interesting ideas on how college students can make some extra cash. My friend started an online business in one of her college classes and then continued to build the site. Now she makes an average of about $50/day while going to school. It took her about a year, but well worth it.
Really good post, especially for college students interested in online business ideas.
That’s awesome to hear Anna. Tell you friend if she wants to accelerate her online business to head over to our training center and get connected.
She’d really benefit from all of Jay’s advanced webinars. There’s info on improving your SEO, rankings, ranking on Google, outsourcing. Plus the community support and SiteRubix website builder alone can drastically improve her site rankings.
Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated.
Todd
Nice ideas, Todd. I’ve a couple of suggestions as well.
Sounds good Jack. But I’ve already replied to another comment you left on our site about working freelance gigs. This is the same as just finding a job, you trade your time for money. Here, we teach people how to build online businesses, so that you eventually build a site that produces passive income that works for you.
To learn more, click here.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi Todd
I’m a full time college student and about 8 months ago I was reading this very post about finding work online as a college student.
I started Working with Wealthy Affiliate (based on your recommendation) part time while going to college. It was difficult I must admit, but now I’ve got my system down and I’ve got a cool niche site that sees about 5 – 7K in traffic and I make close to $70-$100/day as a college student.
There’s not many other college students who can say that. I still work part time with my online business while hitting the books for school and I’m able to manage it well. What’s better is I can see a progression of increased traffic as I continue to build my online business and I predict that by the time I graduate, I won’t even need to look for a job, my online business will be making me full time income, I’m predicting around $300-$400/day.
I want to thank you for referring me to Wealthy Affiliate, they are easily as high as caliber of an education as my college courses for less than $1 dollar/day. I bought the yearly membership.
Thanks again Todd, you’ve made all the difference in my college career and life career.
Nick
Hey Nick,
Thanks for coming back to my site and commenting on my Ways College Students Make Money article. I wish I had someone who had shown me Wealthy Affiliate when I was in college, but who knows if I would have had the courage to take it on like you did.
If there are any college students out there reading this post, this is a very powerful testimony to what you can do if you put your heart and energy into a real online business. And the cool thing is that you can do it in your spare time.
Hindsight is 20/20 but it takes a wise person to realize the bigger picture. Putting in the extra effort to have an online business that produces you part time income while going to college is great, but realizing that it can turn into a full time career that allows you to make more money than 90% of college grads, work from home or anywhere in the world, and one that grows as you continue to build it seems like common sense.
The question is, how many of you will take advantage of Nick’s story. For those of you that are motivated and hard workers, take the chance and learn the SEO/building website skills you need to succeed. Wealthy Affiliate helped Nick and myself make it in the online world, and they can help you too.
Check out my review of Wealthy Affiliate to see all that they offer and see if they’re right for you.
Thanks Nick and I wish you the best of luck in the future, something tells me that you won’t need it though.
Todd
Todd,
I must admit as attractive as all those part time jobs sounded, I would certainly be one of the guys that would really opt for earning online.
I appreciate how you discuss the balance between classes and the need for green as well.
Lets face it school is expensive, earning online really gives you a lot more control of your time than punching a clock.
Keep up the great work,
Gary
Absolutely Gary, plus as the students business grows, they could have an income producing website by the time they graduate from college. Wouldn’t that be a great way to start one’s professional career.
Thanks for your comment,
Todd
Really good article Todd, great idea for college students.
Great information for those interested in making some extra cash!
Hi Eric,
That’s what I was thinking too. Gosh, I wish I had access to Wealthy Affiliate when I was in college. Beats working in a part time job and the potential to create something real, that will grow with a person over time.
Cheers,
Todd