25+ ways college students can earn money that actually exist
As an affiliate, I may earn a commission on any purchases you make after clicking on the links within my articles.
Creative ways to earn money as a college student
Why earn money while going to college?
Pay tuition and expenses
Avoid debt
Meet friends
Build your resume
Learn marketable skills
While you might not have a lot of time to work while attending college, there’s likely plenty of down time that you would have to work part-time or earn a little extra cash with lots of flexibility.
If you work, you could earn some extra money to pay for your college expenses so you can avoid going into debt. Or you could start investing your money to plan for an early retirement.
Besides the extra money, you will meet friends and network. This could help you in your future by giving you plenty of opportunities to meet people to expand your circle of friends.
Don’t forget to place your employment on your resume. This can help show employers that you are reliable. Also, when you apply for a job, most employers will want plenty of references to call and check on your background. So, by having jobs while in college, you can start building this up to impress future employers.
And finally, when you’re working, you are going to be learning marketable skills that will likely help you in your future career. I’m talking about communication skills, teamwork, and conflict resolution.
If working a job isn’t for you yet, I’ve got some other opportunities for college students to earn money that don’t require a commitment and are more creative opportunities for earning an income.
What job should you get as a college student?
As a college student, it is best to get a job in the same field as your future career. Even if it is an entry level position, you can gain experience and network with professionals in your desired field.
You will build your resume and experience, which may lead to a better job prospect after graduation.
But I can understand that you may just need to earn money and quick. Or maybe you want more flexibility than what some other jobs offer.
I have a list of 25+ ways that you can earn money as a college student. These opportunities actually exist and are relatively easy to get started!
I also included links, when possible, to help you find the companies where you can get started today.
And lastly, I explain a little about each job opportunity to make sure it’s right for you. So let’s get started.
Sell game items, games, or accounts
If you have ever played video games, or just think you could get good enough to flip for a profit, this might be for you.
You could sell on various websites like Gameflip and earn a profit on your gaming adventures like items from Fortnite. Other websites like PlayerAuctions will even allow you to sell your entire account which could lead to some big bucks! If you like video games, and think you could have a profitable character quick, you could do this over and over again. But it would need to be done right.
Start a blog
If you have access to a computer, and the internet, you could start a blog. A blog needs very little money to begin with so it could be a great way to start earning some money.
I do want to mention that it won’t get you rich quick, but it could help you create a passive income later. So start thinking about something you’re semi-knowledgeable and passionate about and start writing blog posts. You’ll need to learn a few things first, but if you stick with it, you may start earning within a few months of publishing your content. You’ll need a website builder and web hosting to start, but these are usually inexpensive.
Deliver for DoorDash
This job gives you lots of flexibility as a college student. You likely have classes and studying that takes up a lot of your time and having some flexibility with your shifts gives you time to focus on your coursework. Depending on where you live, DoorDash may be available and in some busy areas, you’ll have plenty of available work to pick-up as needed. You will need some transportation and a smartphone to work for them, but that’s it. The rest is up to you and how much you want to hustle.
Be an Instacart shopper
This is a grocery delivery service where you will fulfill the customer’s grocery order yourself and then deliver it to their home. And what can also earn you more income is referring other shoppers to apply. You can get a referral bonus. So after you get hired, you can promote Instacart and earn some extra bucks with your shopper referral code. Something to also consider is that Instacart has in-store shopper positions available so if you don’t want to deliver the groceries, you can be the person who fulfills them at the store.
Be an Uber Driver
If you have a car, and feel safe transporting people around, this job could be for you. This job gives you the ability to be your own boss, sort of. You can set your own schedule, be part-time, full-time, or seasonal. And what’s even cooler is that Uber now has the ability for workers to request a rental from their partners to start earning with their company so there aren’t really any excuses.
These are positions for people who can transcribe audio or video into text or create subtitles for videos. And if you know two languages, you could potentially earn more. These jobs will provide you with some audio or video, and you are going to type the information in their platform. Depending on your project, you might be transcribing medical conversations, a movie, a podcast, etc. You’ll just need a computer to get started. While your typing speed might be a factor here, it is also your attention to detail that is most important. When you apply for these jobs, you’ll likely do a mock transcription and you’ll get to see exactly why typing plays a small role in your ability to land this job.
Deliver for Amazon
Now, this job might not have the same flexibility as the others, so it might be for students who are taking online classes instead, but it could still work out for you. You could deliver packages to people’s homes. And depending on the position, you might be eligible for other benefits like healthcare, just to name a few. So check out the positions and see if these are right for you.
Work on campus
Check out your college’s job opportunities and see if anything is available. They hire often because students are constantly leaving the campus after graduation, and they’ll need new recruits. So check out their employment and see if any jobs exist. You might get hired to be a student assistant to a dean or a librarian. I think you’ll be surprised to find out that there are plenty of job opportunities on your very own college campus. Most campus jobs will have a minimum G.P.A. requirement and usually require the student to be enrolled for 6 credit hours or more. But this could vary based on your college.
Be a resident assistant
This might not be available to everyone because some colleges don’t have student housing, and if you aren’t living on campus, you wouldn’t be eligible. But for everyone else, it is a very lucrative opportunity. Resident assistants will be living on campus and supervising and assisting all the other college students living in the dorm. You’re making sure that the dorm is safe, secure, and maintained. Most colleges give a steady paycheck to these assistants, and they may provide free housing and/or meals. So not only could you earn money, but you might also actually get the chance to have your housing paid for too! That’s a win-win.
Sell plasma
Now, if you’re afraid of needles, this one is going to be hard for you, but you could earn money by donating your plasma. The donation bank would insert an I.V. and would take your blood, use a machine that separates the plasma from your blood, and return the blood back into your body. And the best part, you just sit there and get paid! Some centers also have reward programs that incentivize you to keep giving. There are a few health requirements so make sure you meet those before diving into this job. After your first donation, you could expect to spend around 1.5 hours donating each time. You usually get around $50 each donation but just know there are some limitations on how often you can donate plasma. And first-time donors usually get some pretty good bonuses. Be careful about donating too frequently as researchers aren’t quite sure of the long-term implications.
Sell some stuff
Do you have any old stuff you just want to get rid of? Perhaps you can convince your parents to let you clean out their house and sell some of their unused things too. They might appreciate the help to clean up their belongings and let you use their garage to have a sale. So, start looking through all your things and see if you can downsize. Maybe you have more valuable things and can sell some things on Poshmark or Ebay. Those are just a few of the online sites where you can sell your things besides a garage sale. So start looking around and minimize the clutter and let your trash be someone else’s treasure.
Do Skillshare
Do you have a skill that you want to share with others? Then you might be able to become a teacher on Skillshare. You would film your class and publish it on their platform. And then you get paid based upon the number of members who watch your class. So, learn how to grow your following on Skillshare and start teaching people skills that you know. You can teach members anything from art, lifestyle, to creativity. Find out if this is right for you.
Be a research assistant
Colleges sometimes hire research assistants to help professors conduct research. This might be a more rigorous position but it can help you network and get involved in academic research. You might just be doing administrative tasks like data entry or you could be learning how to perform statistical analysis. This job has lots to offer students who might be interested in research or a graduate degree.
Be a customer service representative
A lot of these positions are remote where you can work from home. Look for remote virtual assistant positions. Many well known companies hire for these jobs, but I find that most are more structured positions with set hours so if you need flexibility, it might not be the most ideal position. Be careful of scams here, and try to go directly to the company’s website to ensure the opportunity is legitimate.
Babysit
There are lots of ways to accomplish this but if you don’t know any families to babysit for, you could sign up for services that can help you find families that need a babysitter. You could have flexible hours with this position and lots of fun. This one is flexible and you can earn some extra cash quickly.
Take surveys
There are lots of companies that offer rewards for surveys, but Survey Junkie is one example. Companies need to conduct research, so they hire these companies to get respondents to answer their questions to learn more about consumers. Depending on the platforms, you can earn cash or rewards. You might even be able to participate in a focus group, which could pay more.
Start a YouTube channel
If you have a talent, want to share your perspective, or just have an interesting personality, start a YouTube channel. To get monetized (start earning money) you’ll need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours so it might be a long time before you start earning money, depending on how popular your channel is. You wouldn’t have to spend anything on a camera just yet if you have a smartphone to start with. Then as you got more subscribers and eventually got monetized, you could invest more into this venture, but this is something that wouldn’t take a lot of money upfront to begin. Just be really careful about what you post, because once something is on the internet, it’s there forever.
Write on Medium
You can join their Partner Program where you could potentially earn for writing articles and publishing them. If you can’t think of what you could even write about, think back to people asking you for advice. Are there several times where people have come to you for answers to their questions? If so, maybe you could start writing and answering those questions. There are a couple of ways to earn on Medium. You can earn based on members’ reading time on your articles, or by referring your readers to become Medium members.
Join Fiverr
Maybe you don’t think that you could write on Medium yourself because you wouldn’t know where to start or don’t think you’d have enough content, so instead, you could write for other bloggers who need help creating content. There are lots of opportunities on this platform. You could do graphic design, digital marketing, etc. So check it out and see if you qualify for any of their opportunities.
Re-sale clothes
Go to thrift stores, find profitable clothes and re-sale them on Ebay or other similar platforms. There are people who do this for a decent income. Now, it could be like finding a needle in a haystack, but once you get good at it and know what you’re looking for, it could get easier. You don’t have to limit yourself to clothes. You could sell all sorts of different items, but just be cautious and think about any shipping costs and fees that you might lose after selling the items.
Be a pet sitter
You could get paid to play with pets, literally. If you enjoy pets, this job might be for you. For some platforms, you can set your own prices and your own schedule. One popular website is Rover.com but there are others. If you want to make the most money, you can actually keep the pets at your home. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you could just walk the dogs or housesit for other people.
Tutor other students
If you are amazing at a certain subject, see about tutoring at your college. Some universities have programs where students can tutor other students. If they don’t have anything to offer you at your college, you might try and see about tutoring online. Keep in mind that these online options may require you to tutor students K-12 instead of college students. Currently on tutor.com, for educational requirements, you only need to be a sophomore at a university to start tutoring. Check to make sure you meet their other qualifications before you begin applying here.
Open an Etsy shop
Do you have any creative skills? Own anything that can create products, like a Cricut or CNC machine? Or maybe you are good at woodworking and can make products to sell on Etsy or another similar platform. Keep in mind that you may need space to make and store the products, so it won’t be for everyone. However, it could be lucrative, especially if you have some marketing skills.
Move with Dolly
Dolly is a company that helps people that need assistance with lifting, loading or transporting their items. You can either be the one who transports the items with your own truck, van, trailer or cargo truck, or you could have a car and assist the movers. Check to see if you could be a Dolly Helper or Hands. It’s not available everywhere though.
Become a Tasker
There is a company, Taskrabbit, where you can help people with errands, home repairs, moves, etc. You get to build your own profile, where you can list what services you will provide, and hopefully the requests start flowing into your inbox. You might be doing something as easy as putting together IKEA furniture, or more complex tasks like home repairs. There’s a lot of opportunity here.
Advertise on your car
There are several companies that exist, but one is Carvertise where you could wrap your car and get paid. The reason you get paid is because you are literally a mobile advertisement. You won’t get rich doing this, but it could give you some extra spending money for doing nothing but driving like you normally would. The opportunities may be limited based upon the number of brands in your area.
Sell photos
You might automatically think you’re out on this one because you don’t have a fancy and expensive camera, but not to worry because a lot of smartphones are capable of taking great photos too. You could upload them to a platform like Shutterstock. If users download them, you could make some extra bucks.
And as a reminder, use caution when searching online for jobs and always check for legitimacy. Some are scams and you should be cautious about any claims that are too good to be true. Collegeisforme.com and its authors have no liability for third party links and any errors or omissions. We also do not have any liability for any business failures and make no claims or promises for your success. The information provided may change due to employers updates in their offers. See our terms and conditions for more information.
RECENT POSTS
