19 Easy Ways for College Students to Make Money Online

Are you looking for easy ways to make money online as a college student?

Whether you want to find a side hustle to earn extra cash or you’re looking to start a full blown online business, there are plenty of legit ways to make money online while you’re in college.

Check out my list of online jobs below that require little to no experience and are therefore perfect for college students.

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How To Make Money In College Without A Job

As a poor college student, you’re always looking for a quick way to make a buck.

Fortunately, you no longer have to get a part-time job, and earning an income can be done from the comfort of your dorm room.

Check below for my 19 easy ways to make money online as a student.

19 Easy Ways for College Students to Make Money Online

1. Sell Your Old Textbooks

If you’re anything like the average college student, you likely have a large stack of old textbooks sitting in your room collecting dust.

Rather than let the resale value decline, sell those textbooks when your courses end at a lower price than your campus bookstore and watch the purchase requests come flooding in.

In fact, entire Facebook groups have been made based on textbook reselling in the past, so get rid of those books while you can.

2. Become A Textbook Flipper

On the other end of the spectrum, consider purchasing textbooks for classes you aren’t in online and then reselling them at a higher price than you bought, but still lower than the price your campus offers.

The only downside to this opportunity is that it really only presents itself once a year when students are starting the new academic year. Despite this, it’s a short window that can provide a decent amount of cash.

3. Start A Blog

If you enjoy writing and helping others you could start a blog. A blog is a website on which you post articles about certain topics. You create a following by solving problems for your readers in a particular niche, like student life, fashion or finance.

You can make money on your blog through affiliate marketing, ads, offering services like proof reading or virtual assisting, or selling eBooks or other digital products.

If you would like to start a blog but don’t know how, check out this Free Blogging Course For Beginners or sign up with the form below.

4. Become A Freelance Writer

Freelancing, in general, is a growing profession. Millions of people have opted to ditch their 9 to 5 for freelance gigs, and starting in college could give you a head start.

There are lots of ways you can get into freelance writing. Companies are always on the lookout for different sorts of writing, from technical writing and how-to guides to brochures and general content for a website.

A good place to start looking for freelance writing work is visiting freelancing sites such as Upwork and Fiverr. You can search according to your interests, skills, or knowledge and apply for any freelance job.

Don’t worry if you haven’t got an extensive list of credentials or years of experience. What matters most is your passion for writing.

Writing is a talent not everybody has, but if you’re capable of spinning words and getting messages across, then sign up for freelancing sites like Upwork or Fiverr and make some money with it.

5. Find a Virtual Assistant Job

If you have certain online skills you could become a virtual assistant. Virtual assistant tasks can range from customer service and data entry to social media marketing, graphic design and copywriting. It’s quite common for businesses to hire virtual assistants for tasks that don’t necessarily need to be done in house.

Virtual assistants can earn several hundred dollars or more every month. There’s also the opportunity to take on more than one client if you’ve got the time. All you really need is a computer, a reliable internet connection and a few spare hours to dedicate to the job.

6. Become a Vlogger

Do you have a talent for making videos? Vlogging is incredibly easy and you don’t need expensive equipment, you could literally start with your phone. You also don’t need expensive video editing programs because there are various free online video editors available now. YouTube is the perfect platform and there’s a massive audience out there waiting to see what you produce.

Video sharing tools like Instagram Stories and Snapchat provide a platform where you can share your everyday life or showcase a passion. These videos can then be channelled to YouTube, which is where you get paid from advertisements. You could get paid as much as $8 for 1,000 views. The more your audience grows, the more you get paid.

7. Sell Online Designs

If you’re creative and you know how to create simple designs in Canva, Illustrator or Photoshop you can sell your designs online. With sites like Redbubble and Society6 you can simply upload your design once and sell products like stickers, T-shirts, posters and lots of other products over and over again.

The best thing about these websites is that they handle the product creation, shipping and returns, so you don’t have any ongoing work. This a real set-and-forget system and the money can keep rolling in for years to come.

8. Become a Translator

Are you bilingual or proficient in another language? If you are fluent in more than one language, consider becoming an online translator.

There are a wide variety of websites where you can sign up to be a translator like Unbabel or Upwork. Many of these sites don’t ask for formal qualifications. You will, however, have to provide a sample translation so they can check that you are proficient in this language.

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9. Fill Out Online Surveys

Online surveys are a great way to make extra cash. Companies such as Swagbucks let you answer a number of surveys daily and offer compensation that ranges from a few cents to $5 for longer surveys. Depending on your attention span, you could sign up for multiple sites and make decent cash just answering questions honestly.

10. Complete Market Research

Companies need market research to determine if their products or services will be successful when launched.

That’s where you come in.

Being a market researcher means answering questions from companies geared towards their products. You can sign up to sites like Paid Focus Groups and User Interviews and get paid up to $1500!

11. Become an Online Tutor

College students are in the thick of education. Academics are fresh on the mind and there is no better time to offer your services as a tutor.

While you may be able to sign up for in-person tutoring through your school, consider signing up as an online tutor through sites such as Wyzant where you can set your own rate.

12. Help High School Students With College Essays

You surely remember being a high school student and how daunting college admission essays seemed. Now that you’ve been accepted, reach back out to the high school students in your home community and offer to help them craft powerful essays to get into colleges.

Be sure not to write the essays for them, but offer to be a guiding hand and another set of eyes for the construction of the outline itself. You can also turn to professional writing services to have specialists proofread your paper and correct any flaws.

Parents are often willing to pay large sums of money considering that their child’s college acceptance may hinge on the balance. With that said, be sure you know what you’re doing and can actually help potential clients get into schools.

13. Sell Online

Facebook market place, eBay and other sites are great place to sell stuff online. Sell your clothes, shoes, other second hand items or textbooks, and make a quick buck.

Better yet, if you are creative, design custom products or printables, and sell them on platforms such as Etsy.

To help you create printables read:

How To Make Printables To Sell Online

14. Become a Data Entry Specialist

Data entry is a mundane task that nobody looks forward to. As a college student, though, this may be a great opportunity for you to make some money.

Freelancing platforms list data entry jobs constantly, and all you need is basic skills with spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

15. Become A Social Media Manager

As a current college student, nobody is better at social media than you. You likely grew up with social media, and the field is only growing. If you managed to build a following for yourself, offer to do that for others online who are trying to grow a brand.

If you already spend several hours on social media every week, why not get paid for it? So many businesses use social media nowadays and there are lots of them that haven’t got the time to make the best use of their social media pages.

It’s become common practice for businesses to hire independently contracted social media managers to help build their brand awareness.

A good place to start looking for work is to approach local businesses, tell them about your service and what you can do for their business.

16. Proofread and Edit Essays

If you have an eye for detail and are good at grammar and punctuation, proofreading & editing are very easy ways to make money online for college students. Put your writing talent to use and offer to proofread and edit essays for your peers or others.

A great factor about this opportunity is that you could set or increase your rate depending on the length and complexity of the essay you tackle.

17. Review Products

If you enjoy unboxing and receiving new products, consider signing up to be a product reviewer. This works best for those who have a somewhat established following, as it provides value to the company sending the product.

Establishments from restaurants to stores will all accept written reviews and some pay large sums of money if you have a big following!

18. Sign up For Fiverr or Upwork

As mentioned before, Fiverr and Upwork are a must for any college student looking to break into the freelancing world. Upwork is harder to get accepted to as they base the acceptance of your skills and needs in your area, but numerous job opportunities are the reward you receive if accepted.

Fiverr is far easier to get into and offers a wider range of opportunities for those who have niche skills.

Regardless of the specific platform, signing up to become a freelancer on one of these sites is a must for any college student in need of cash.

19. Play Video Games For An Audience

Are you a gamer who spends hours in front of a screen and plays all day? If so, why not let other people watch and make money from it?

Sites like Twitch let you stream games as you play, meaning you can earn money from donations just by doing what you already do every single day! Alternatively, you could set up a YouTube account if you want to get serious about your gaming.

These Are Some Easy Ways For College Students To Make Money Online

As a college student, there are countless opportunities to make money online. You don’t need a crazy amount of skills to make a quick buck and some of these jobs may actually turn into high-paying gigs by the time you graduate.

Focus on building your online skills or business now and your future self will thank you.

Did you know that blogging is a great online business model?

A blog is a great way to market any product or service you want to sell, or you can simply monetise it with ads and affiliate links and earn passive income for years to come.

If you want to know more about starting a blog, please read:

How To Write A Blog To Make Money

or check out my free course:

Kickstart Your Money Making Blog here or sign up with the form below.