15 Ways to Make Money in College

1. Donate Your Eggs (make $5,000-$15,000)

I recently began contemplating the idea of being an egg donor, and reached out to a donor organization. I was quickly wrapped up in a whirlwind of questionnaires, medical screenings, IQ tests, and phone interviews. Keep in mind, while the money sounds great right off the bat, this process will not be an easy one! It involves travel back and forth between school and the egg collection center, requires time off, and has a lengthy "recovery" period. You have to be willing to go off birth control and be extra safe when it comes to sex, because this process makes you SUPER fertile - the last thing you need as a broke college student is a baby.

2. Start a Blog or YouTube Channel (the sky is the limit)

This is not the easy, fast approach to making money, but it's probably the most fun option! This is an especially good option if you have a hobby that makes for good content like cooking, crafting, makeup, etc. In order to make money on these platforms you typically need to be open to advertising or being sponsored (which isn't so bad - free stuff from your favorite brands)! If you're going to go this route you have to be willing to work it into your schedule - allocate 1-3 hours a day to writing blog posts, shooting videos, or editing content. Make sure you do something you're passionate about and have fun doing it.

3. Work Study (Typically minimum wage hourly)

Most schools offer a work study program where you work on campus - you can get paid through federal work study money or through an individual department's money. Some colleges even offer jobs like note taking, campus tours, tutoring. Whatever you choose in work study, it will benefit you in the future! Putting these jobs on your resume shows that you are able to work well with authority figures  in both an academic and professional setting. I currently have two work study jobs on campus - one in the Psychology & Sociology Department and one as the director of our campus non-profit organization. This option is perfect for me because as a double major in psychology and nursing, which are housed in the same building, it makes it easy for me to work in the Psych/Soc office between classes. This option is also one of the best because the professors and staff you work with are flexible with your schedule and understand if you need to take some time off between mid-terms and finals.

4. Babysit

I ended up going to college halfway across the country, so I lost most of my babysitting clients along the way. Luckily, college is the ultimate way of making new connections. I quickly became close with a few professors who asked me to babysit their kids and soon after they began referring me out to their friends! If this doesn't work for you, the internet exists! Sign up for websites like Care.com where families can contact you directly when they need your services. If you aren't the biggest fan of kids, you can also do house sitting or pet sitting.

5. Be a Designated Driver

You could do this by signing on with Uber or Lyft...OR you could do it by letting people around campus know you're in business. I mentioned to a few groups of friends that I didn't drink or party much and they were more than willing to pay me $10-$25 to drop them off and pick them up from parties that weren't on campus.

6. Get a Paid Internship

This one is a triple bonus - resume builder, paid work, AND most colleges will offer internship credits. Many colleges with career services departments will even help pair you with a local business for your internship. For pre-med/nursing majors this could mean being a medical scribe, for psychology majors this could mean being a receptionist at a local counseling clinic, for criminology and sociology majors this could mean working at the local police department. The possibilities are endless.

7. Recycle

Good for the environment, good for your wallet. Collect bottles, cardboard boxes, cans, these things tend to pile up when you're a college student.

8. Sell Stuff on Etsy

If sewing, knitting, embroidery, making jewelry, art, or anything else falls into your list of hobbies, this is a great way to earn a little extra cash. Try to be creative with what you make to sell - Etsy has a whole lot of talented creators and many offer the same products. A girl I went to high school with is making some pretty good income by making baby toys/teethers out of silicone and raw wood.

9. Sell Your Blood Plasma (or just donate blood!)

This doesn't make nearly as much as donating your eggs would, but in college anything helps! You can make around $20-$50 per donation, but expect to spend about an hour and a half at the collection center. You can donate once a month (every 28 days). If you aren't willing to make that time commitment, just donate blood! It can change more lives than you could imagine and I am always getting emails from Red Cross about how they're having blood shortages. Please participate if you can, especially if your college is doing a blood drive. Some donation centers even offer limited time incentives like gift cards or raffle entries.

10. Sell What You Do Have

There are so many websites that allow you to sell old clothing online, and those old textbooks of yours may end up being a cash cow.

11. Do Nails, Makeup, or Hair

I know a few guys and girls on campus who makes extra money this way. Some girls offer hair and makeup services before formals and parties, and a couple guys on campus do barber work from their dorm room.

12. Start Investing

Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are a great way to start building cash and savings. This type of investment comes with a set period of time anywhere from a couple of months to several years. Certificates have higher APY rates than a basic savings account and are a good way to make sure you keep your hands off that money! The longer the time of your deposit, the better APY rates, the more you make in the long run.

13. Get a Weekend/Part-Time Job

This is sort of a "duh" option. You can be a bartender, server, do weekend catering gigs, work for a moving company, be a cashier, etc.

14. Sell Your Old Video Game Account

This is for all my gamers out there - this can even apply to phone games. Did you know that if you're level 30 on PokemonGo and have caught a couple of shiny/rare Pokemon or have accumulated a lot of stardust, your account could go for $50-$100?

15. Sell Your Notes

If you take really beautiful notes, sell them to your classmates - especially if you're good at drawing accompanying pictures or diagrams. This is an awesome option if you have an Ipad and an app like Notability, because then you can print and sell them to multiple people.