When you’re in college, making money may not be the highest priority in your life. However having some extra cash might be nice and the answer to, “How do you side hustle in college?” will help you make a little extra cash.
Before you figure out how to side hustle in college, you must first know the definition of a side hustle.
What is a Side Hustle?
A side hustle is simply something you do outside of your full-time job (or a full load of college classes) to make extra cash. Many side hustles can be done right online from the comfort of your dorm room or home.
If you’re in college and you want to know how to side hustle, you just need to choose the right option for you. There are several great choices for your side hustle and you just need to find the one that fits with your schedule best.
How can I earn money if I am a student?
There are several ways to earn money as a student from a part-time job with flexible hours to blogging to freelance writing online to taking surveys. The key is finding a way to earn money as a student that doesn’t interfere with your classes or your studies.
If you want to make money while you’re in college, a good idea is to find a side hustle. A part-time job can be a good choice, but you actually have to go to the job and you only get paid for the time you put in on that job. The right side hustle will likely pay you quite a bit more than a part-time job will, especially if you choose a side hustle allowing you to build up an income over time.
How can I make money on the side in College?
If you want to make money on the side in college, learning how to side hustle is a great choice. Your side hustle could also work to your advantage after college, too. Let’s look at some of the best side hustles you can do while in college and a few side hustles you can use now to build an income for now and in the future.
Top 17 Side Hustles for College Students
Avoiding the part-time job at some local restaurant or retail store may be your goal with a college side hustle. Here are 17 excellent side hustle choices perfect for college students.
1. Tutor
You can become an online tutor for all types of students in a class or classes you are very good at. Of course, you can also tutor on campus, but you’ll probably make more money doing it online for students all across the globe.
Varsity Tutor offers opportunities for you to become a tutor online.
2. Become a Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistants or VAs are vital to many businesses online and they can work their own hours. As a VA, you’ll perform simple tasks, such as making phone calls, posting to social media, and other simple tasks needing to be done. You can earn as much as $25 per hour as a VA and most earn at least $15 per hour.
3. Sell your Skills on Fiverr
Fiverr allows you to sell your skills online. Maybe you’re good at designing images or you’re skilled at editing videos. You can sell so many different skills on Fiverr and build up a clientele that will use you over and over again.
4. Rent out Your Car or Things
If you don’t really have much time to do work, you can rent something you own for a profit. Turo allows you to rent your car to others, while sites like Rentything and Zilok will allow you to rent other things. Even RentNotBuy will allow you to rent your clothing.
5. Take Surveys Online
There’s a long list of sites that will pay you for your opinion and they love to pay college students. You can take surveys and make money online as your side hustle while in college with these top survey sites:
- Survey Junkie
- Opinion Inn
- Click4Surveys
- Swagbucks Surveys
- Life Points
- Maximum Paid Surveys
- Gold Opinions
- Take Surveys Online For Cash
- Your Survey Cash System
- Decision Analyst
Use some or all of these survey sites and you’ll be making cash for simply filling out surveys online.
7. Use Swagbucks
It won’t take much time and you can use it while doing other things on your computer. While it won’t pay you big bucks, Swagbucks will allow you to earn money while doing things you’d already be doing. It’s a good choice to add to your side hustle game as a college student.
8. Do Online Photography Jobs
If you have a decent camera (most of us do on our phones these days) you can get paid to take pictures. This is a great side hustle for college students and one you can continue getting paid from after college.
9. Find Side Hustles on TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit offers all kinds of odd jobs you can do for people, such as assembling furniture, helping with a move, or mowing someone’s grass. There are all types of options and you can get paid for doing all types of things for people in your area.
10. Become a Postmate
If you have a decent vehicle, you have plenty of side hustle opportunities. Postmates will allow you to make money by delivering things people order. You can make money through Postmate and tips from those you deliver to.
11. Become a Lyft or Uber Driver
Yes, of course, if you have a good car, you can make money as a Lyft or Uber driver. This has become a top side hustle for all types of people including college students.
12. Test Video Games Online
If you love video games, this might be the perfect opportunity for you. You can simply test out video games for companies and enjoy getting paid. Heck, you might get to play the hottest new game before anybody else does.
13. Babysit
Care.com is a great way for you to make extra money while in college. If you don’t mind babysitting, you can use Care.com to find babysitting jobs and make some extra cash.
14. Pet Sit
Another option, if you prefer to pet sit instead of babysitting is using Rover.com for pet sitting. You’ll be able to watch people’s dogs, cats, and other pets while they are gone and make a nice little income.
15. House Sit
If you don’t mind watching or even staying, in someone else’s house while they are gone, you can use Care.com to house sit, as well.
16. Become a Mystery Shopper
Trendsource offers the opportunity for you to become a mystery shopper and make some extra cash.
17. Become a TV/Movie Extra or an Actor
Yes, you can actually make money as an extra on TV shows and movies or you can even become an actor. There’s a program that helps you learn exactly how to do this found here.
These 17 side hustles are great for college students. However, there are a few I think are much better because you will build an income for today and for your future.
Best College Side Hustles for Today & the Future
A combination of the following side hustles could be the answer to your financial needs now and in the future. Many people using these side hustles end up making a full-time living and they often work part-time hours.
If you do it right, you can even make money without doing any work in the future.
The best college side hustles that will pay you now and in the future include:
You can actually combine all four of these to make a nice income now and in the future.
First, start a blog and start writing about something you enjoy doing or want to learn more about. It can literally be anything and you’ll be able to use affiliate marketing to monetize your blog.
You can also turn all your blog posts into videos or you can vlog your life while you’re doing it to make money online while you’re in college. If you don’t want to start a blog, but you’d rather be a vlogger, you can use affiliate marketing to make money before you’re big enough for sponsors or to be monetized on YouTube.
In addition, you can use freelance writing to make immediate cash. Take on a client or two, which you can find from my list of 100+ Websites that Pay Writers (it’s free!).
With a combination of freelance writing, blogging, affiliate marketing, and/or vlogging, you can build an income today and in the future.
If you want to start a blog, you can use my How to Become a Blogger, found here, to get started. It’s free!
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