College Fees put a financial burden on many students. If you are a college student and have managed a good amount of scholarships for your college courses, you will still need money to manage other expenses.
There are students who get grants or scholarships to continue their college studies. Such grants and scholarships help them to manage a significant amount of college expenses, but there are some other expenses for which the students have to look for different avenues to earn money.
At times, students are forced to take loans in order to complete their college studies. Nowadays, students get many avenues to earn money on campus or online at their convenient time. The average minimum age for light work is 13 years, and the average age for general employment is 15 years.
This article will provide valuable information about how a college student can make money and get the benefit.
Also read: How to make money online for beginners, How to make money on roblox, How to make 10 Dollars fast, How to make money while travelling,
Ways to Make Money as a College Student
1. Start Blog
College students spend a considerable amount of time on the net.
Instead of wasting this time watching certain web series, listening to music, or interacting with people on social media, college students can utilize their online time to create blogs or vlogs and earn money.
Students who are good at writing, blogging or vlogging is the ideal option to earn money. Vlogging is video-blogging and it can be done with a smartphone. You may use an affordable DLSR but that is not mandatory.
Students who have basic knowledge of editing can earn money by creating quality vlogs. Editing is not a big deal as there are apps available which can be used for editing vlogs. Students can write blogs and if the blogs get the required number of visitors, the student will get paid.
Initially, students might not earn a good amount of money through blogging but with time, it can help them to earn money while studying. Students can use online forums like Blogger, and WordPress for expressing their views, ideas, and experiences through their blogs or vlogs.
2. Write Content for other sites
Students can make use of their writing flair to earn money. An average person spends a significant amount of time on the internet and search for different types of information.
Content writers’ job is to provide information to the people through their content. Content writers create informative and useful content for different channels on social media.
To write good quality content, extensive research work is needed so that writers can put forward their ideas and thoughts properly and the content becomes captivating to engage more readers.
Students who have good knowledge of grammar, are interested in researching different types of topics, and have an engaging writing style, the job of content writer is the perfect one to earn money in spare time.
The beginners earn about Rs. 8,000-10,000 in a month. Students can search for content writer’s jobs on Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, People Per Hour, and others. If you want to know more about earning money by writing content, you can click on the link given below
3. Social Media Marketing
Just with a laptop or computer and a reliable internet connection, college students can earn money by doing marketing on different social media.
Businesses can create a unique brand identity by using social media platforms strategically. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms, students can earn a handsome amount of money by marketing a brand.
On behalf of a business, students have to post informative and interesting content on the social media page of that business so that the content can engage visitors.
Businesses use social media to connect to their consumers directly and make them aware of their products and services.
Effective social media marketing helps in creating unique brand awareness among the consumers and creates a deep impact in the minds of consumers.
Students who are good at communication, have flair in marketing, and are aware of social media etiquette, will find Social Media Marketing to be one of the best ways to earn around Rs.10, 000 by doing Social Media Marketing.
4. Tik Tok Influencer
Over the years, use of Tik Tok has grown rapidly. Students can make money through Tik Tok as it is an effective way to reach a large number of audiences within a short time.
Students can earn money using Tik Tok in three different ways.
They can go for partnerships with different brands and post Tik Tok videos promoting the brands. Students can also sell their own merchandise on Tik Tok platform.
Another way to earn money on Tik Tok video is from Tik Tok’s Creator Fund.
The amount of money a student can make as Tik Tok influencer depends on the number of followers with followers between 50,000 and 150,000, the influence is a micro influencer.
The influencer is a nano influencer if there are less than 50,000 followers. To get paid directly from Tik Tok, the video must have 100,000 views in the last 30 days and must have the required number of followers.
Know more about creating Tik Tok videos by clicking the link below.
5. Sell used items online
For college students, one of the easiest and fastest means of making money is to sell their old stuff online. Study items, such as old text-books, assignments, notes, etc. take up extra space in the house or hostel room and unnecessarily clutter th place.
Students can get rid of their old stuffs by selling them. This will help them to earn money and create more space for other work.
College students can sell their old text-books and notes. StydySoup is an online platform where students can sell and buy notes.
Students can also earn money by selling their college assignment papers. There are online platforms where students can sell their old essays and other assignments and earn a handsome amount of money.
Students write multiple papers every semester so selling college notes and assignments is a great way to earn side income.
Students can also earn by selling other used items, such as old clothes, shoes, video games, CDs on Craigslist, OLX, Quikr, and other online platforms and earn money.
6. Sell Digital Goods
Earning extra money by selling digital goods has become easier as most people spend a lot of time on digital platforms.
EBooks, PDFs, website templates, audio files, etc. are different digital products that students can sell online. Students can sell digital planners that come in different forms and shapes.
Some of the templates students can sell are worksheets, cover letters, copywriting templates, website templates, etc. Students who are good at music or art can make side money by selling digital goods.
Their love for gaming or graphic designing will help students earn money by selling song files, music albums, stock photos, digital paintings, digital wallpapers, business cards, etc.
7. Create an Online Course
Students can earn side money by creating an online course and selling it on different platforms.
Students having sound knowledge on a subject but are not interested in teaching one-to-one or in groups, can make money by selling online tutorials or courses.
Online course format can be an audio, video or handwritten. Students can create exclusive course content on a subject in which they have expertise.
Skillshare.com is an online learning community where anyone can watch video lessons take online classes, create projects etc.
Students can use other online platforms such as Udemy and Teachable to sell their online courses on a wide array of subjects and ideas. The course videos can be of different time duration.
Creating online courses and selling them helps students to gain experience as a teacher. This is very helpful for those who are planning to take up teaching as their profession.
8. Creating an App
Students can also earn money without any investment by creating mobile apps. In recent time, free apps have outnumbered the paid apps. Earning money by creating apps has unlimited opportunities for students.
Most students spend a lot of time in mobile surfing. Students can utilize their spare time and create a free app to earn money in different ways.
Apps help in earning money through advertising that is by displaying commercials in the apps or through affiliate marketing and get paid by the company for whom they are advertising. Mobile apps can also help in earning money through referral marketing, collecting and selling data, etc.
Different ways of earning money through referral marketing are Cost per Click, Cost per View, Cost per Install, etc. The most common apps focus on lifestyle, education, entertainment, and finance.
9. Applying for teaching Assistant
Students who like to teach and want to spend time with students can utilize their love for teaching to earn extra money in college.
Students can take up the job of teaching assistant and earn a good amount of money. A teaching assistant’s job profile is to handle tasks such as taking classes, helping students in laboratories, grading papers, evaluating projects, etc.
College students can work as teaching assistant in schools and gain hands-on experience in teaching and other administrative jobs.
Students can apply for teaching assistant jobs online or through college campus job boards.
Students who are interested in teaching and are looking for way to make extra money can also speak to their professors to know if there is any requirement for teaching assistant in their own college. This will help the students to work in a known environment.
10. Become a research Assistant
Students can earn extra money by taking up the job of a research assistant.
Students who want to acquire knowledge and at the same time earn money on the side, research assistant jobs are the perfect choice for them.
The duties of a student will vary depending upon the department they join.
Students who are work as research assistants in a science department have to perform experiments, monitor them, and collect samples, etc.
They may have to help their professors to note down observations and other notes as and when needed. If students work as research assistants in the humanities department, they may have to collect data, transcribe audio information to prepare essays, etc.
Students, who are working as a research assistant may have to prepare worksheets, charts, and other presentations on behalf of their professors.
Working as a research assistant helps students to sharpen their team-work, organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills and be ready for future jobs.
11. Take Surveys
Students can earn a handsome amount of money by taking up online surveys on many reliable online platforms. Some reliable survey platforms are:
11.1 Branded Surveys- One of the leading market research communities in the world that rewards people for their opinion. It has more than 2 million members.
11.2 Survey Junkie- Survey Junkie gives rewards and gift cards to people when they share their opinion. It is one of the most trusted and rewarding platforms for online surveys.
11.3 Inboxdollars- Students can earn $.10 to $5 by taking up surveys on Inboxdollars platform.
11.4 Pointclub- Students can earn extra money on this platform by taking up surveys, playing games, etc. The minimum point needed to cash out is 25,000.
11.5 Swagbucks- Students can get different types of rewards by answering surveys on Swagbucks platforms. Along with cash, students get free cards, cashback offers, and coupons by answering online surveys
The benefits of online surveys are flexible work timing, self-regulated earning, independence, no specific qualification, and no investment.
12. Become an Influencer
Social Media Influencer is not only an interesting job but it gives an opportunity to earn lots of money to a student.
Social influencers use their online presence and communications with their followers to influence their buying decisions.
Students can earn a good amount of extra money even if they are micro-influencers.
Students can work in their spare time as social media influencer and earn side income. Influencing someone else’s buying decision is not an easy job.
Students have to find their niche. The best thing about working as a social influencer is that the market is diverse. The market includes fashion, lifestyle, gadgets, automobiles, and many more.
Students can choose the niche as per their choice. There are many social media platforms that students can choose to work as an influencer. Students must choose the social media platform carefully from the available ones such as, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.
13. Live streaming
One of the most lucrative ways to earn extra money in spare time is through live streaming. Streaming is similar to live TV where audiences watch the streamer in real time.
Students need not invest extra to earn as a streamer. They can create videos and share them using a mobile app, computer or tablet.
Students can choose any of these social media platforms, such as Twitch, Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook to do live streaming.
Students can offer advice, provide content, play games, teach a course during live streaming.
13.1 Twitch- on Twitch, viewers can cheer the streaming video using Bits. The streamers get paid for every Bit the viewer uses for cheering. Twitch also has a paid subscription program through which the streamer gets paid.
13.2 YouTube- YouTube streamers can earn money through channel membership programs. Streamers can also earn from sponsorship advertisements and affiliate marketing.
Click on the link below to know more about earning money through streaming.
14. Operating a garage sale
Students can make a good amount of money through garage or yard sale. College expenses are not easy to manage. Students always look for extra ways to earn money to manage their expenses in college.
If planned and executed properly, a garage sale is a great way to earn fast money. The sale can be in-person sale or an online sale. If space is a problem then, students can put up their items-for-sale on social media.
The garage-sale posts can be put up on Facebook, WhatsApp, and listing in the neighbourhood and university campus. If the garage sale is in-person then it should be done in a place that gets many footfalls.
The in-person garage sale should be started on Friday so that more people can come, go through the items, and buy. Some of things students can put for a garage sale are artwork, camping gear, furniture, old game, costume jewellery, etc.
15. Sell Your Artwork
Many students take up arts as their main subject in college, but there are some students who take up arts and crafts as their hobby. Students can earn by selling their artwork.
Students who spend their time painting, drawing, sketching or making craft items can easily earn money in lieu of the time and effort they spend.
Students can create an attractive profile and put up their art work to reach the niche target.
Additionally, students can also ask for referrals from their friends, teachers, and other acquaintances to reach the right buyers.
Students can display their work on Facebook, devianArt, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitch, ArtStaion, etc.
With time, students can set up their online business of selling arts and crafts. In-person sales can also be done, though students have to invest lots of time and effort for in-person sales.
16. Trade in Your Used Textbooks
After students get promoted to a higher level of their course, many books are not of any use to them.
Students can trade in their used course books and reference books to earn fast cash and also de-clutter their space.
The most important thing is to know when to sell the used textbooks so that students can get the highest return for their used books.
The best way to sell used books is to use online platform such as Amazon.com, Cash4Books.net, Flipkart.com, Bookcounter.com, and others.
Students can also use social media platforms to put up pictures, prices, and descriptions of the books. Used textbooks can also be sold to students directly.
While giving the description of the books, you must provide the author’s name, ISBN number of the book, and the publication year. You can attract buyers if you write a small summary about the book so that buyers can get a clear idea about the book.
17. Resell Sneakers
Since online platforms have increased in numbers, the sneaker market is expanded significantly over the years.
If you are a student and are looking for a lucrative option to earn extra money at your convenient time, reselling sneakers can be the best option for you.
After a few months of experience, one can earn $500-$1000 per month by selling sneakers.
Students can put up sneaker selling ads on their Facebook or Instagram profiles but there are also several online platforms where students can sell used and new sneakers.
17.1 GOAT- It is the global platform for getting new and used apparel, sneakers, and other accessories.
17.2 StockX- It is another popular online platform to sell and buy sneakers at the best price across the globe.
17.3 eBay- Selling sneakers on eBay means extra peace of mind as eBay’s authenticity guarantee ensures buyers sell sneakers with confidence and have a reduced number of returns. To know more about how to earn money by reselling sneakers, you must click
18. Freelance
Working freelance has become very easy nowadays. Anyone can easily search for a job profile as per the qualification and preferred niche. Students can also make use of online platforms such as Freelancer, Upwork, and Fiverr to search for freelancing jobs and earn extra money quickly.
The freelancing jobs that college students can easily do are essay writing, blog-writing, translation and transcription works, social media manager, writing course, and others.
The benefits of working as a freelancer is that it gives one opportunity to work at flexible timings and adds-on experience to make the person future-ready. Students can also take up freelance job as data entry operator if they are good at typing.
Photography, creating games and apps, online tutoring are other freelance jobs that can help students to earn good amount of extra money in their spare time.
19. Become Rideshare Driver
Students who own a car, bike, or scooter have an option to earn handsome amount of money by taking up driving jobs.
Students can take up driving job for professional companies, such as Lyft or Uber. This job is right for students as they can do it according to their convenient time.
Students get a certain percentage of the money that passengers pay to the company. To take up the job of Rideshare driver, students must be of 21 years and proper background checking is also done.
The students must have a driving license and a qualifying vehicle. If you are a student, you can check for such openings and work at your flexible timing to earn extra to meet your expenses
20. Delivery Driver
If you have your own vehicle, then you can utilize your spare time very well by taking up the job of delivery driver. In recent time, the demand for home-delivery has rapidly increased.
Most e-Commerce platforms are looking for reliable people to deliver their goods at desired destinations within time.
Platforms such as Uber Eats, Instacart, Grubhub, Doordash, Cavier, and others look for delivery driver for delivering items to their customers.
The main criteria of a delivery driver are punctuality and reliability. These attributes will help students in seeking better jobs in future.
21. Typing Transcripts
For college students, transcription is another interesting way to earn extra cash. Students have to listen to audios and type the audio as a transcript.
Students who can type fast can earn good amount of money by transcribing audios into texts. As such there is no training needed for take up a transcription job but you may undergo
special training in case you take up this as your profession in future. Students can search for transcription jobs on LinkedIn, Quikr, Up2Staff , Gotranscript, Rev, Transcribeme, and others.
22.Baby sitting
If you like spending time with babies and can handle them well then you can take up the job of baby-sitting on weekends or after your class hours.
It is better to look for baby-sitting jobs in the neighbourhood so that you do not waste time in travelling. Baby sitting is a well-paid job and it is a great opportunity to get experience in case you are planning to work with children in future.
Baby-sitting teaches a student to become punctual and organized. It helps the students to get good contacts and references for future.
Care.com, LinkedIn are the platforms where students can search for baby-sitting jobs.
23. Pet-sitting
Managing pets is not everyone’s job. Students who love pets and already have experience in handling them can easily take up the job of pet-sitting.
Many families or people need to hire people for pet-sitting jobs due to their busy schedules or excessive mobile jobs. Pet-sitting is a lucrative option for a student to earn handsomely and meet extra expenses.
Many pet-owners look for people who can handle their pets so that they can do out on weekends as they do not want to keep their pets in kennels. Students, who love to spend time with pets can take up this job and get paid well.
24. Car Wash
Earning a handsome amount of money to enjoy an outing with your friends or to pay your college fees is not difficult nowadays.
Students have many avenues to earn extra money without hampering their studies and daily schedules. One such job is to earn money by washing cars.
There are people who cannot manage cleaning or washing their vehicles due to lack of time. Students can utilize this opportunity and earn cash by taking up car washing jobs.
25. Mow Lawns
As a student, your primary responsibility is to concentrate on studies and score good grades. But, you may find it difficult to manage your college tuition fees and other expenses due to lack of sufficient fund.
You can engage yourself on weekends or in your spare time to mow laws for your neighbours or other places and get paid on hourly basis.
With zero investment and without any specific skill, students can utilize their spare time and earn extra money by mowing laws in different residential and official places.
26. Writing term paper
If you are a student and want to earn extra money by doing some academics work then you can easily earn by helping other students in completing their term papers.
If you are good at a subject, like to do research work, and loves to write, then earning extra cash by writing term paper will be easy for you. Students can also search for paid essay writing and research paper writing platforms and apply there.
Students who do not have command over English, lack interest in writing term papers or essays, and lack self-confidence are some of the student-types who look for hiring others to write papers and essays for them.
Students can enjoy academic work at their flexible timing and also get decently paid by writing term papers.
27. Work in Cafe or Restaurant
Students can also earn extra money by taking up part-time job in restaurants or cafes. They can do these jobs after or before their class hours depending upon the class timings.
Students can also work in restaurants and cafes on weekends as the crowd is more in weekends and restaurants and cafes need people to handle the crowd and manage their orders.
This is another way of earning money without any investment. There is no experience required for such works. The students taking up jobs in cafes or restaurants must be friendly and good-mannered.
Students can earn based on hours, order-based or a combination of both. Students who have flair in cooking can take up temporary jobs to gain experience which will help them in future.
28. Washing windows
Students can earn about $200-$300 every month and manage their expenses without any problem if they take up the job of cleaning and washing windows in their spare time.
Whether it is the payment of student loan or saving money for some higher course, earning money by washing windows is a classic side-hustle.
The benefits of taking up this job for earning money is that it requires no investment, no expensive equipment, and zero-experience.
Students can search online for the requirement of window washing jobs and get started. Indeed.com is one such platform where students get thousands of window washing jobs.
29. Running errands
Nowadays, families are mostly nuclear. There are many people who need extra help but do not find the right person around them.
Elderly people, physically challenged people, new-moms, busy professionals, small business-owners need people to help them in accomplishing indoor and outdoor jobs.
College students can earn good amount of money by running errands for others. In their spare time, students can work for those who need extra help and earn money.
Some of the platforms where students can search for such requirements are Care.com, DoorDash, Favor, Instacart, etc. Students can manage doing these jobs only when they have their own vehicle or they can access public transportation easily.
30. Cleaning Houses
There are times when you need to de-clutter your house or room to make it look clean and shiny. Students can earn extra money by taking up the job of house-cleaning.
House cleaning is an easy job to earn money by college students as they can do it on weekends, holiday, or after classes. House cleaning job does not require any specific experience.
In case the place is a large one, students can form a group and do cleaning and earn extra money.
There are households where people cannot do housecleaning on their and look for people who can do it for them. Students can check for such requirements on online platforms.
31. Make money by playing games
Students do not study throughout the day. They do need leisure time and many students love to play online games. Why not utilize their gaming time and earn a handsome amount of money?
Playing online games is another way to earn extra money. Students must be careful before choosing this as an option for making extra money because they may get addicted to playing online games and ultimately cannot do justice to their studies.
The most popular online games platforms are Blackout Bingo, Mistplay, Pool Playday, and 21 Blitz, Dream11.com.
Game developers use Mistplay App to test if the games made by them are enjoyable or not.One has to be 18 years old to play the games. The games are available as per the region. Users get paid in cash or rewards.
32. Get paid to walk
Students can also earn by walking.
There are some fitness apps that pay rewards for walking.
There are students who are fitness freak.
They can remain fit by using these fitness apps and at the same time get rewarded for being fit and earn money.
32.1 Step Set Go App- this fitness app tracks down the daily fitness activity of the users and pay them discount coupons and free rewards for running, cycling, or walking.
32.2. Growfitter Rewards App- Users are paid Growfitter rewards against completion of fitness activities like cycling, running, walking, gym, etc. on daily basis.
32. 3 Hav. Fitness Tracking App- this app also offers rewards to their users for their daily fitness activities.
32.4- Steppi App- This app is available on Android and iOS platforms and gives rewards to the users while tracking their daily fitness activities.
33. Use Nielson Mobile App
As a student, you must be spending many hours on students for studies or other reasons. Why not make use of some hours of online surfing and earn side money? Just with a laptop, mobile, or a smartphone, students can make some easy money with Nielson Mobile App.
Nielson does survey to measure the popularity of online videos and websites. Just by downloading the app and signing up for Nielson Panel, you will get paid by Nielson.
The app does not slow down the system and does not collect User-Id, Password, or any other private information. Nielson collects information about users web-surfing and users get paid in cash or gifts for keeping the app on their device.
Final Words
Many college students take up jobs in their spare time to earn money to pay their college fees and manage other expenses, such as travel expense, dining out, buying gifts for friends, or an outing.
Earn in college not only teaches a student to be financial independent but also helps in teaching money management. Woking while studying also helps a student to sharpen the skills and improve personality.
Students who start earning in college get work experiences which help in making them future-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How can I make a lot of money fast in college?
You can make a lot of money fast in college by taking up the job of freelance writer, blogging, online translator, online tutor, filling up online survey forms, join an internship, selling old text-books and notes, or create content, and others.
2. How can a college student earn money?
There are many ways a college student can earn money. They are filling up online surveys, do a summer internship, do freelance tutoring, deliver things, a part-time campus tutor, work as a research assistant, work as a virtual assistant, sell note-books, sell your art and crafts, and others.
3. How can a student make money on the side?
There are many ways a student can make money on the side. These ways are vlogging or blogging, paid online surveys, online tutoring, online selling, affiliate marketing, content writing, website development, delivering items, transcription jobs, work as a calligrapher, lunch an online course, become a translator, and become virtual assistant.