While I was in college, I worked several on-campus jobs during the school year and did internships during the summer. I was always making money on the side to sustain me throughout college.
I know as a college student, sometimes there are excuses like “I don’t have time,” or “It’s too much work.” There are many flexible and easy ways to make extra cash and still have time to focus on school.
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Here are 25 easy ways to make extra money in college
1. Work On-Campus
Apply to part-time jobs on campus to earn extra bucks. Common gigs include working at the front desk of a dorm building or working in the IT department to help people fix their computers. Most jobs have a minimum and maximum working hour cap so that it doesn’t interfere with school work.
Related: 10 ways to save money in college
2. Monetize Skills
What are you good at; what do you enjoy doing? You can use your skills to earn money. For example, if you like building websites or coding, or taking pictures, you can provide a service and in exchange for your time and labor, you get a commission.
Fiverr and Upwork are sites that allow you to do freelance work – you set your own price, terms, and schedule. Isn’t that awesome? I have used a service from Fiverr and it was a pretty neat experience.
3. Flip Items Online
Check Craiglist for free things and then re-sell for a profit. You can flip TV, furniture, or websites and domains. If you see something of value, buy at a discounted price and re-sell at a fair price on eBay, Craiglist, OfferUp, Amazon, and Facebook Marketplace.
4. Virtual Assistant
Another great way to earn money online is to become a virtual assistant. A lot of businesses are looking for help with managing their day-to-day activities such as responding to emails, writing reports, and other administrative tasks.
This job is even better since it is remote work. It gives you the flexibility of working from the comfort of your home or dorm room.
Check out these sites to apply: VAnetworking, Upwork, Fiverr, Fancyhands, and PeoplePerHour.
5. Get an Internship/Co-op
Getting an internship within your area of study gives you an insight into the corporate world. The short-term experience helps you decide if the field of study you’re in is really what you want to do full-time.
In addition to the experience, you will also get paid for your work. Keep in mind, not all internships are paid.
6. Drive for Uber/Lyft
If you own a car and have some free time, you can make some quick cash driving for Uber or Lyft. You have the freedom to set your own schedule, and you can pick up extra shifts during the weekend or evenings.
7. Deliver Food
Just like you can drive people around, you can also pick up and deliver food to people. UberEats, Postmastes, DoorDash, and Instacart allow you to do just that. You can also use a bike to deliver food or groceries for Instacart or UberEats.
8. Start a Blog or Website
Starting a blog or website takes time to create, but can be very lucrative after building it for years. Eventually, the site starts to run by itself and needs little to no changes. The blog can be about your passion or a business.
9. Start a Youtube Channel
Youtube has transformed over the last couple of years. It is free and accessible to everyone. Do not expect to start making money right away as a beginner. It takes a lot of time, patience, and good quality videos to build a fan base and eventually start monetizing your channel.
10. Online Tutor
Do you enjoy and excel at a particular subject? Consider tutoring your friends or peers and get paid for it. Check with your school and local communities to teach students in that subject you’re strong in.
Check these sites to find offers: Chegg, Tutor.com, TutorMe, and StudentTutor.
11. Freelance Writing
If you enjoy writing, you can apply for freelance writing jobs and get paid for it. You can write content for websites, blogs, and businesses. Content ranges from general how-to content to technical know-how. Look at sites like Upwork, Fiverr, Ziprecruiter where you can search for listings and apply.
I recently started writing and posting some content on Medium, but yet to be monetized. If you write quality content, you get paid for your work.
Check out these sites: Upwork, Fiverr, The Penny Hoarder, ACHS, Income Diary, and Great Escape Publishing.
12. Try Baby sitting/ House sitting/ Pet sitting
I had some friends who did babysitting gigs after classes and made a decent income from it. If you are good with kids, give babysitting a try. The typical babysitter gets about $20 per hour. If you have friends and neighbors with kids, start asking them if they want to have a night out!
When people take a vacation they want someone to look after their house, water the plants, or pet sit. Wouldn’t it be nice to get paid to house sit??
Sign up on Care.com and Rover.com to apply for job postings.
13. Walk Dogs
A dog owner might have a very busy schedule or travel out of town and needs someone to take care of their dog. You can walk their dogs around the neighborhood and have a good time.
Apply to Rover.com for gigs.
14. Rent Your Car
When I first learned about this service, I was surprised! I didn’t know people would be comfortable enough to rent their cars to strangers. I watched a Youtube video review of someone renting their Tesla and I must say it wasn’t such a bad experience.
Turo and Getaround let you do just that. Just like renting your room on Airbnb, you can rent your car. If you have a car and don’t use it often, rent your car and get paid for it.
15. Online Surveys
Online surveys won’t make you that much money, however, you can still do them for fun during your free time. There are so many companies seeking consumer feedback or opinions on new products and services or just anything.
The surveys are assigned to you based on your personal background and the answers you provide to questions.
There are several online survey sites. Check out this list of the most popular ones to get started: Survey Junkie, Swagbucks Surveys, Survey on the Go, Field Agent, Opinion Outpost, and Branded Surveys.
16. Participate in Research Studies
There’s always some research going on and volunteers are needed. Do not jump at every research offer just because it offers a huge reward. Do your research on the company and the requirements they are looking for.
17. User Testing
When companies create new websites or app, they need people to test it before it goes live. This is to test for bugs and get feedback on user behavior. Sites like Usertesting.com, Enroll, Userlytics, TryMyUI, and Apperwall allow those companies to post user testing jobs and allow people to participate. You get paid after the test is done.
18. Task Rabbit
Task Rabbit is a site where people post job tasks and you can apply for the job task. For example, there might a task to go grocery shopping, help someone move, or make a pickup and delivery.
Sell Your Stuff
I’m sure we all have something we can sell.
19. Sell Class Notes
I was such a good note-taker in college and I never knew I could sell my class notes. Boy, if I had known… I would be balling in money (joking lol). Sites like StudySoup allows students to sell their notes online.
20. Sell Crafts on Etsy
Etsy is a site know for sellers who make handmade products such as books, cards, or household crafts. You can make dorm-friendly paintings or drawings anything that will sell.
21. Sell Stock photos
If you like taking pictures, you can sell your photos and get paid for them. Places like iStockPhoto, Alamy, SmugMug, and Shutterstock lets you sell your photos.
22. Sell Old Textbooks or Used Books
Don’t let the textbook you paid for go to waste. Try to resell at the college bookstore, but it won’t be a lot of profit. Check out these sites: TextBookRush, Chegg, BookScouter, Amazon, and Cash4books.
23. Sell Clothes
Do you have gently worn clothes or new clothes? You can make extra cash by selling them on sites like Poshmark, Mercari, Tradesy, and Depop. You can sell shoes, bags, belts, and any clothing accessories.
24. Sell Used Electronics
Just like with clothes, some sites allow you to sell electronics such as phones, laptops, headphones, or even video game consoles.
Check out Decluttr, Gazelle, Swappa, eBay, OfferUp, Craiglist, and Facebook Marketplace.
25. Teach English Online
If you’re good at English and would feel comfortable teaching English online, check out VIP Kid. You get to set your own schedule, create your lesson plan, and get paid!
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Hopefully, you can pick one or two side jobs that can bring in extra cash when needed. No more excuses for not making more money 🙂
Which is your favorite job to do or would like to try? Are there other side gigs that I didn’t mention? What are your thoughts?
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