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7 Ways to Make Money in College

by Pauline Paquin

7 Ways to Make Money in College. Here is a look at the 7 top ways to make money while in college

Morning! Today I have a guest post from Kevin who blogs at Graduating From Debt, enjoy!

My name is Kevin Watts and I am the creator of Graduating from Debt. I was like millions of recent college graduates in heavy debt with very little hope. With the right attitude and discipline I took control of my financial picture and now I can say proudly that I am debt free.

Being a college student may be about being broke all the time and replacing meals with instant noodles. But it really doesn’t have to be. There is no reason why you can’t have a good life or save some money while at college. There are plenty of creative ways in which you can make money on campus these days, college matters and no matter what your major is, it can always be possible to squeeze out some time for a campus job.

 

Here is a look at the 7 top ways to make money while in college.

 

1. Take Surveys

 

Getting paid to take surveys is probably one of the most popular ways to earn a little bit of extra cash. While the pay isn’t a lot – it can be anywhere between a dollar to $20 an hour – it can accumulate to quite a good amount. These surveys are usually handed out by companies who need to collect information for marketing purposes. You will find these online, on certain websites and job boards like Job Tonic. But you can also find them at grocery stalls and malls.

 

2. Become a Research Subject

 

There are usually plenty of requirements for willing candidates to become a part of the research studies at universities and colleges. The work involved as subjects of these research studies can range from filling in questionnaires to drug testing. The pay can be high. You can make anything between $10 per hour to hundreds of dollars, depending on the risk involved.

 

And there may be a little risk involved in testing out new drugs, for instance. However you will be helping science to make progress. And in the meantime, you’ll be making yourself some money. If you’re looking for these voluntary research-subject openings in your area, look through Craigslist and post-secondary schools in your area.

 

3. Perform on the Streets

 

If you’re someone who has a skill that can act as a crowd puller, you can put it to use and earn some dough. For instance, do you and your friends have a band, or can you give a freestyle rap performance? There are sure to be some places in your campus where you can begin to perform.

 

Of course it’s questionable whether street performance is legal. It’s also not easy to grab the attention of people with compelling acts that draw them towards you and away from the billboard ads and smartphones that claim their attention. However it’s a fun way to make a little money.

 

4. Earn through Google AdSense

 

This is a good way to make some money if you are a blogger or have a website where you like to share stuff that people enjoy reading. Of course you have to be regular with your blogging and have a substantial number of visitors to your site or this doesn’t make sense. But if you have a reasonably popular blog, you can set it up with Google AdSense. Apply for it, and once approved, you can embed the HTML code in the blog. Ads related to the subjects you blog about will pop up on your page. Each time a visitor clicks on an ad, you’ll make some money. Depending on the amount of traffic your blog is getting this can add to a substantial amount.

 

5. Secret Shopping

 

This may sound counter intuitive, but some companies actually pay people to shop at their stores. Once you’ve shopped, you’ll need to share your shopping experience and create some publicity for the company. Note that this is a perfectly legitimate way of earning money.

 

However, there are many scams out there that make you pay upfront. Stay away from these. You can find such opportunities at the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

 

6. Be a Tutor

 

Do you have a special area of knowledge such as a foreign language? Or do you know non-native speakers of English who want to learn English? You can take up a tutoring job to earn cash.  Not only will you be brushing up your own language skills, you will also be assisting another student. Whether you are a language expert or someone studying for an online mba who could help out a student pursuing an undergrad in the same area , it can be fun to tutor someone since you can take the lessons to cafes or restaurants.

 

7. Be a tour guide

 

If you think you could take people around and present and explain your school or another facility to them, then you could probably take up a part-time job as a tour guide. Maybe your local brewery or winery is looking to hire a tour guide. You will get to improve your presentation and talking skills on the job. Of course, you have to pass a screening where the university or company will judge whether they think you can be engaging enough with your audience and educate them with enthusiasm.

 

How did you make money in college? Did you have a summer job?

 

There are plenty of other ways you can make money on campus as well. So what are you waiting for, get earning!

This post was featured in Money Rebound, A Young Pro, thanks!

Lovely comments

  1. I was a student note taker for some classes. Basically, I got paid to do what I was already doing. The only catch was that I had to write my notes up in a coherent legible fashion. So I basically got paid to study and organize my notes after class.

  2. I´m doing different kinds of online surveys, it`s definitely not something you`ll earn much money by doing, but in time it adds up, and I usually use the money for birthday gifts, so that my budget won´t get too messed up, because my friends tend to have the birthdays in the same month, so do several of my my family members. So then it`s nice to have some extra cash to use towards gifts:-)

  3. These are all pretty creative ideas, but I had an old-fashioned on-campus job in the IT department that I absolutely loved. Worked there all four years! I also did some SEO and marketing work for a blog.

    • I think this is by far the most effective way to make money while in college. You used your experience and turned that into a money driver. When my brother goes college I will tell him to get a regular job too so he can mature faster than I did 🙂

  7. I found a job with my school’s Annual Fund during my last semester. It didn’t make a ton of money, but it was enough income with a small enough time commitment to really be worthwhile. I wish I had started it sooner.

  8. These are great tips on how to make extra money during college. You can also be an assistant in some offices in your school or you can blog or start monetizing your passion for photography.

  9. These are some great ideas Kevin to make a little money while in college. I worked at the front desk in my dorm and a few others on campus while in school. I got to meet a lot of people that way and was basically paid to do my homework.

  10. I worked full-time in undergrad as a retail manager for a clothing store. It was good money but boy was I tired!

  11. I only worked in summers as a waitress, but I also went to college in the days where no one had a personal computer…we had to go to the computer lab to share one. For some reason I think college students have so many more opportunities now to make a little extra here and there when they have time. I think having a computer and internet access just opens up a lot of possibilities!

    • If you are creative person and don’t follow conventional rules you don’t have to get a real job in your whole life! With the internet the barriers to entry are at an all time low you can start your own business and start making money

  12. These are all some pretty good ideas, but I can think of at least two more. First, if you look like the girl in the picture I’m sure you could always pick up some freelance modeling work. Seriously, I found doing basic IT work to be very profitable and flexible schedule wise. I had to learn the skill, but it doesn’t take that long to be able to be good enough to make money at.

  13. There are always great ways to make money, whether you are in college or not. I did it the old fashioned way and had part time jobs. I also sold some things on eBay from occasion.

  14. I’m like Tonya, when I went to college very few people had computers and no one had laptops. Technology has certainly changed how we can make money! I was fortunate that I went to school locally so I was still able to work at my father’s office. 🙂

    • I’m thinking with the emergence of facebook college was very different when I went there. I remember my freshman facebook just came on the scene and it completely changed the way we interacted with each other.

  15. I have made quite a bit of money in the past for taking surveys, and there is always Swagbucks too. Getting paid for my regular internet searches is the best!

  16. I participated in a lot of research studies. None that ever involved putting anything into my body. The ones that paid the best were finance games where you were paid based on how well you did. You could make anywhere from $10/hr to upwards of $200/hr. Those were great and I miss being able to play those games.

  17. I worked at the library, then at Wal Mart, then doing work study for one of the professors. Nothing nearly as fun as a street performer, but you have to have talent for that I guess.

  18. These are all some great ideas. There are some standard on campus jobs that you can explore including working in the athletic department, in the library, or working at the campus bookstore. I’ve recently done some odd jobs here and there and additional research for a professor which has landed me a great reference letter in the end and a little cash on the side.

  19. I gave guitar lessons and cataloged books in the music library. I did some music theory tutoring too. Six packs don’t grow on trees, ya know.

    Nice post, man.

  21. When I was in College I worked at my parents business and I worked in a restaurant to make money to put me through school. There are many ways to make a few dollars and hey why not, school is not cheap. Thanks for sharing

  23. Kudos for providing such detailed information including the hourly pays as well.. the secret shopping bit is something I had little idea about.. very interestingly put…

  24. Aside from my campus job in the mailroom (which was a really fun job and has colored my post-college career plans), I started a custom PC business with my roommates. Bad idea. We had a lot of problems because we had different visions for the company.

  25. Hey Pauline, thanks so much for the mention here. I’ve always liked the idea of taking my guitar out into the streets to earn a few extra bucks, maybe I’ll pluck up the courage one day. Hope you’re having a great weekend.

  26. I was a tour guide during my undergrad for the university. It was one of the highest paying jobs on campus too, we were potential students first impression of the university, we sold them to come back or not so the tour guides were paid well and we got a lot of perks. I got to live for free on campus during winter and summer and take classes while working full time hours as a tour guide during those times. We also got a few hundred dollars to spend on school branded cloths at the campus store every year!

  27. Extremely informative. I wanted to thank you for this excellent post. I surely enjoyed each little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out more new stuff you post in the future.

  28. Fiverr also presents great opportunities for college students to make money, especially with Gig Extras. Another option is for college students to get creative and find an unmet need on campus and start a business or venture to address that need.

  30. It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d without a doubt donate to this excellent
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  31. You really cannot make much money, anywhere, (including the Internet), if your sole aim is to make money. Money must not be the major factor. It’s just like gasoline on a long road trip, you are going to need it, but, you are not doing a tour of gas stations. The main thing is motivation.

  34. Above given examples are helpful to make money for college-going students. Not only spending money on fun and stuff, but students also need to learn how to earn money so that they value the hard work of their parents and can earn side income too.

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