How to make money in college? 15 tips to help you!

1. Work part-time or freelance

As the priority is to earn extra money without consuming all your time and jeopardizing your studies, a part-time job would fit like a glove. You can try this type of job in school secretariats, teaching in professional courses or as a laboratory monitor within the faculty itself.

Freela is a cooler name for self-employed jobs and the famous odd jobs. For example, you could try something like a nanny, dog walker, event promoter, security guard or designer.

2. Take part-time or weekend jobs

As you don’t study every day or every month, this idle time can be used to raise some money. For example, if you have a friend or acquaintance who owns a bar, pizzeria or restaurant, you can help him as a waiter on weekends or even on vacation.

The same goes for jobs in stores, workshops, factories and other establishments that need to fill temporary vacancies during certain periods.

3. Make and sell food

One of the most common activities among university students is the sale of sweets and snacks at the university during breaks, times and days off from classes. This idea is obviously suitable for people with cooking skills or who have someone to help prepare food.

If you fit into this group and the sweet and savory dishes you prepare are usually a hit with your friends, why not try them with students, professors and college staff? Prepare brigades, bonbons, natural sandwiches, oven-baked hamburgers, among other foods that maintain their quality even outside the fridge.

4. Sell your arts and apparel

If your skills are more on the artistic side, this could also be worth some extra cash. In this group of arts and clothing, we can mention the production of paintings, pictures, drawings, bracelets, cords, clothes, hats and other types of handicraft.

It is important to photograph your articles and publish them on the internet. You can set up a small virtual store or create pages on social networks to sell your productions.

5. Do some repairs

If neither the culinary nor the artistic side is very much touched on in you, it may be that with the maintenance of certain items you will understand yourself better. Repairing cell phones, appliances, printers, computers, notebooks or even cars can be something you can do in your spare time.

And in these times of crisis when people prefer to fix an asset than buy a new one, working with maintenance can be a good source of income to reconcile with college.

6. Work as a reseller

Reselling products has always been an interesting option for those who want to make a living from self-employment. And since in this case you are the one who can do the free time, it can be a great alternative.

Furthermore, you have to consider that you will be able to create a loyal clientele at the college itself, since they are people with whom you will spend most of the week.

The success of this endeavor will also depend on your level of knowledge about the product to be resold. The most common are beauty, makeup, clothes, shoes and accessories. In this model, the seller works with catalogs and generally earns a percentage of each product sold.

7. Offer private lessons

This modality is also widely practiced by university students. The idea here is to take advantage of some privileged knowledge in a discipline to help those who have difficulties and want to go deeper into the subject.

For example, if you’re very good at math, you can help high school students, university entrance exams or candidates to improve in exact sciences. Or if you are comfortable speaking another language, such as English or Spanish, you can also offer tutoring classes. The same goes if you know how to play a musical instrument, for example.

Don’t forget to publicize these services on your social networks and at the college itself, if other students are interested.

8. Work on the internet

One more option that enters the list of how to earn money in college, in the current era, is to undertake on the internet. And how is that possible? Well, we can highlight 3 opportunities, among several others that exist.

One is becoming a blogger. Well, you can create a blog to write about what you understand or like and earn money with ads, or selling your own product.

Another option is working as an affiliate. Affiliates are like resellers that we have already mentioned in this text. The difference is that the diversity of products is much greater, as well as the commissions paid by producers.

Lastly, a popular option is to become a Youtuber. This is the most difficult path, since the competition is huge and it is difficult to get the formula right, that is, to produce what the public wants to consume.

But it also doesn’t cost much to risk uploading your own videos and hope they become popular and earn money paid by YouTube. If you are going to follow this path, at least ensure good image, sound and content quality in your materials.

9. Edit, format and translate texts

You can do this for your own classmates or for students in other courses. As the norms are standardized, you will be able to format works from other areas without major problems.

There is also the possibility of offering proofreading and editing services for high school work and other types of course. Also, if you master another language, you can use that to your advantage to translate texts for blogs, websites and other communication vehicles.

10. Let go of what you no longer use

You know those books, CDs, movies, toys, shoes and clothes that are thrown in some corner of your house? So they might be of some use to other people.

Therefore, nothing fairer than putting them up for sale. There are several online thrift store sites to let go of these items, in addition to traditional sales sites, such as OLX and Mercado Livre, and groups on Facebook, for example. By charging a much lower price, you attract customers, sell old things and still free up a good amount of space in your home or bedroom.

11. Do internships

What if you can raise some cash while gaining experience in your field of expertise? It would be the best alternative, wouldn’t it? This is possible through paid internships. Thus, you get to know a little about your future profession in practice, meet experienced people in the field, who can strengthen your networking, and even receive payment for this learning.

And don’t think that only students in the last semesters have a chance of getting an intern position. Some companies give preference to those who are still in the early stages of graduation. So, look for an opportunity from the beginning of your academic career. Far beyond remuneration, this can be your path to effective hiring after completing college.

12. Try a scientific initiation scholarship

Do you enjoy reading, researching and discovering new information? Perhaps a research career is a good option for your future. Find out about the institution’s scientific initiation programs. This experience considerably increases your chances of being able to take master’s and doctoral courses later on. It is a starting point to develop your profession in the academic field.

Even if you don’t have the plan to establish a career in the research field , it is worth trying a scientific initiation scholarship. This is because in addition to earning money or significant discounts on your monthly fee, you also develop skills to write academic articles, delve deeper into a topic of interest and prepare for your course completion work.

13. Participate in monitoring programs

But if you’re not good at research or don’t have much interest in the area of ​​scientific studies, another good option linked to the teaching institution is monitoring. In this case, you offer didactic support and clarify the doubts of students in the first semesters, while helping the professors in certain activities, such as correcting reports.

Check with the secretariat or coordination of your course how the monitoring programs work. You can earn discounts on tuition, which already helps with your financial control. In addition to this reward, it also takes the opportunity to reinforce the content seen in previous years.

14. Seek an opportunity at the educational institution itself

Try a job vacancy at the college you study at. Whether in the administrative sector, in customer service or in any other area that has an opportunity compatible with your curriculum, that is, that does not require experience or specific training.

Although the role is likely to be full-time — 8- or 9-hour shifts a day — it pays off. The salaries of those hired under the CLT regime are generally higher than scholarships for internships and other academic activities. In addition, employees of educational institutions can benefit from discounts of up to 100% on courses.

15. Find out about partner companies

The last option on our list, but not least, is the possibility of getting a job in companies that maintain partnerships with the university. Gather information about these agreements and check if the college has employability centers that refer students to these organizations.

Anyway, there are several possibilities to make some extra money to help cover the expenses of university life. To find out how to make money in college, try some of the alternatives we present and make your choice. The best option will be the one you can relate to, earn money and, most importantly, have free time to study, do  extracurricular activities and rest a little.