Whether or not you have received hefty scholarships or financial aid, earning extra spending money is always a plus in college. It took me a while to realize all the different and easy ways to earn cash as a student, but below are some opportunities that my friends or I have done or have heard about:
- Take notes for other students through the Academic Resource Center. Some students need extra help with notes, especially those who have to take a week or two off of school for various reasons, and you could be paid if you have a good grade in the class for taking notes for them.
- Blog for certain departments such as Residential Life and get paid per blog.
- Babysit for local families. Check with faculty members with small children, people who may know parents who need a babysitter, or create a profile on a childcare networking site.
- If you are talented in styling hair or giving haircuts, make your services known. Plenty of people, myself included, do not know how to properly deal with their hair alone but cannot afford the full salon price of an appointment. I started paying my friend a reasonable price to style my hair after viewing before and after Facebook photos of some of her styling.
- If you are a musician, there are lots of opportunities to earn extra money such as working as a music staff member at a church, teaching younger students, or doing temporary gigs like weddings or other special events.
- Participate in focus groups around campus. Sometimes different organizations or departments ask for students willing to act in case studies or give honest feedback about certain topics.
- If you are a good photographer some organizations pay students to be photographers at their events. You can even sell some of your photos online for strangers to buy.
