11 Ways to Make Money in College that You Didn't Think About

Keeping up with your expenses in college can be challenging. Especially when you obviously just have to order food like every weekend, am I right?

If you’re a broke college student looking for ways to support your fast food appetite, or you know, pay some bills, then this post is for you.

This post is all about ways to make money in college so you don’t have to live the broke college student life.

Affiliate links are used in this post, however, all opinions are my own. Read my full disclaimer here.

Online side hustles to make money in college

1. Start a Blog

Starting a blog was one of the best decisions I’ve made! Don’t get me wrong, it requires a lot of hard work. But once you get past that you can make a lot of money from your blog.

If you’re interested, I created a free 6-day email course to walk you through the process and teach you how to make money blogging!

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Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn:

Day 1 – How to create your blog
Day 2 – How to grow your email list
Day 3 – How to make money blogging
Day 4 – How to get tons of traffic to your blog
Day 5 – The BEST resources for blogging
Day 6 – How to have a successful blog

2. Start a Youtube Channel

If you’re creative and want to share your thoughts and talents online in another way you can start your own Youtube channel. Youtubers have been known to make thousands per month! Plus, you don’t have to start with expensive equipment like what the pro YouTubers have; all you need is an iPhone and good lighting.

B-Land 5.7” Ring Light with Tripod Stand for YouTube Video and Makeup, Mini LED Camera Light with Cell Phone Holder Desktop LED Lamp with 3 Light Modes & 11 Brightness Level

DIMMABLE MINI 5.7” LED RING LIGHT ☆ the led light design with 11 adjustable brightness for your choose, meet all your needs in different circumstances. 3 light modes: white, warm yellow, warm yellow + white. It will come in handy whenever you need extra light for making up, taking photos, making videos, reading books, and live streaming!
ADJUSTABLE TRIPOD STAND ☆ comes with a light tripod stand which allows you to adjust the height from 35cm/13.8” to 100cm/39.4”. It will meet all the situations you need. Constructed from aluminum alloy, giving it exceptional strength for heavy duty work.
QUICK RELEASE CELL PHONE HOLDER ☆ packaged with universal cell phone holder, very easy to use: squeeze the open arms together to expand the arm automatically and put the phone on it, press the phone to release the button on the back and the phone will be tightened on the device. It will compatible with most of smart phones, like iphone 7 plus, 7, 6, 6s, 5, 5s, 4, 4s/iPod touch/Samsung/LG/Huawei/HTC,ect.
USB POWERED LED LIGHT ☆ adopt usb port, work with multiple devices. You will be able to enjoy both the lamp and the cell phone holder at any time freely!
MULTIPLE USES ☆ as its features of adjustable tripod heights and light brightness, it can be used as desktop lamp or floor lamp as you like. Suitable for living room, study room, baby room, bathroom or office.

You can also opt-in to buy a tripod stand for your iPhone with a ring light. This is the one my friend used to start his Youtube channel.

Apps that help you make (and save) money in college

3. Ebates

Ebates is a cashback website that offers cash back on over 2500 stores like Walmart, Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Forever 21, Expedia and more! So it also helps you save at stores you already shop at.

Now here’s how you make money with Ebates: when you refer a friend, you make $25 after they make their first purchase. But here’s the thing about that; Ebates offers cash back on so many stores that people normally shop so it would be easy to make a qualifying purchase.

To learn more about how Ebates works and how I passively made $130, read my full review and learn how to best use Ebates to maximize your cash back.

4. Dosh

Dosh is another app that gives you cash back on stores like Sephora, Sams Club, Forever 21 and lots more. The difference here (and how you can make money with Dosh) is that you get an instant $5 bonus when you refer a friend – meaning you don’t have to wait for them to make a purchase. All they have to do is add in a card number and you both get $5 instantly – no purchase required! Then you can save with their cash back offers! Sign up here to get this offer.

Campus Side Hustles to Make Money in College

5. Note Taker

Colleges hire note takers to aid students with disabilities that are unable to take notes themselves. Contact your school’s office of disability services for more information. You also benefit from the academically because it requires you to pay attention in class to take good notes. Therefore, it can also improve your grades.

6. Tutoring

This is another option that can also help improve your grades while making money because it requires you to understand a subject well enough to explain it. You can either sign up for tutoring services on campus and get paid that way, or an external tutoring service like StudySoup.

7. Paid Experiments

One of the ways I make money from time to time is by participating in experiments on campus. I signed up for an email list to get notified of these experiments within a specific area of study at my school. (And don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds). All I do is show up and answer a few questions or play a computer simulated game for 30 minutes and I make up to $30 for each experiment!

Check with the psychology, policy studies, and other research offices on your campus to see if they offer paid experiments for students.

Start Selling

8. Sell your clothes on Vinted / Poshmark / Depop / Relovv

You get the point – there are a bunch of apps to sell your used clothes on. Rather than throwing your old clothes away when you’re upgrading your closet, try selling your clothes online to make some extra cash. You can also go to places like Plato’s closet where they buy your used clothes. They may not pay you that much but it’s better than nothing.

9. Sell products online

Do you currently make/are you thinking about making products to sell? This could be a great income stream in college and a big resume booster! Whether it’s your art, t-shirts, photography pictures (yes, you can sell stock photos) and more. You can sell your products on websites like Etsy or your own personal blog. If you offer services like graphic designing, website creation or social media management, you can use Fiverr for this.

Part-time Gigs

10. Drive for Uber or Lyft

If you have a car on campus and you don’t mind putting a few miles on it every now and then, try driving for Uber and Lyft. It’s a great way to earn some extra cash in college + you get to pick your own schedule. You can choose to drive on mornings or nights depending on your schedule.

11. Babysitting

A few of my friends have made a lot of money babysitting in college. If you love kids then this will be a perfect option for you. The pay is great and you get to make a new friend! There are also babysitting apps you can sign up for that help pair you with a family.

That’s all the tips I have on how to make money in college! Have any more ideas? Leave a comment below. But before you go..

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