College is a huge financial burden for practically all students, undergraduate and graduate alike. One of the many ways students can mitigate the cost of a college education and help them keep afloat throughout their college journey is to find jobs and side hustles.
Whether you work full-time or opt for part-time jobs, side hustles can significantly help pay for student expenses. This will also help supply their financial aid and allow them to gain helpful and valuable work experience. However, students must know that there will be drawbacks that go with working during college, like the impact on their tuition assistance or time restraints.
In the US, roughly 40% of full-time college students and 74% of part-time undergraduate students were employed in 2020, based on recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics. With the growing cost of going to college, finding a side hustle is an amazing way for students to earn extra money while focusing on their studies.
Weighing the Pros & Cons of Working During College
Working as a student provides several opportunities beyond paying regular expenses during the whole college semester. Plus, according to experts, doing side hustles will lead to plenty of benefits right after graduation.
The more students work during college, the more employers will value the more important skills they will gain. Students will embrace the importance of showing up on time, being diligent in their duties, or following instructions from their supervisors.
There are plenty of reasons why college students must take side hustles and part-time jobs—additional income, paying for tuition, building up their resumes, gaining more work experience, and many more.
For the most part, college students understand that college job hunting is no no-brainer, considering the hefty price tag that goes with a college education. There are several advantages and disadvantages to making any huge decision, and below are some of the pros and cons of securing a job while one is still in college.
The Pros:
Additional Income
Everybody knows college is expensive. Even after financial aid, scholarships, grants, and the like are considered, some fees remain to be paid by students out of pocket. Having an income can considerably ease financial stress on college students.
And then, of course, maybe you want to find a side hustle for some spending money. Who doesn’t love eating out once in a good while, especially if the dining hall offers the same meals many times over? Or maybe you wish to attend a concert or head to the theme park and release your stress after midterms? Regardless of the reason, having some extra cash will always be great.
Resumé-Building
Having a job while you’re in college will look good on your resumé. This will tell future employers that you can balance your tough schedule and remain hard-working. With a side hustle, you will earn valuable experiences and gain contacts who can give you networking opportunities or recommendations.
Grade Booster
While having a job while in college is a challenge, juggling between school and work can have a huge impact on a student’s GPA. It was found that those who worked 20 hours every week (or less) had higher GPAs compared with their fellow students with no side hustles at all.
The Cons:
Time (or the lack thereof)
The time you spend working is not the time you spend studying, sleeping, or catching up on your school reading. Even if you work only for a reasonable amount of time (like 20 hours a week, maximum), this still translates to losing a lot of valuable time elsewhere. Eventually, your priorities will clash, and you might end up losing time to relax.
A college side hustle might also cause scheduling conflicts. Maybe you finish your shift thirty minutes before the start of your next class. Or your job you have somehow gets in the way of a crucial class lecture that you need to take. Maybe your classmates are planning to join in a school-sponsored event, but you cannot go with them because it falls in the middle of your shift. Whatever the case is, a side hustle, at some point, can get in the way of things.
Grade Killer
Having a job while working during college is like a double-edged sword. While we mentioned above how jobs can boost a student’s GPA, some students who overwork tend to have the reverse effect. Working too much often results in less time studying, thus resulting in lower grades and test scores.
Stress
Between attending classes and going to work, some students will feel exhausted and burned out—something that is not ideal, especially for memorizing materials. College is a very stressful time already, and adding a job may sometimes lead to anxiety. If you do not know how to prioritize and organize, balancing work and school might lead to overloading your system.
Top 20 Best Jobs for College Students with Debt
College students have bills and expenses to consider during their college days. Finding the best side hustles can be the best option to earn extra money while concentrating on your college education. Let’s explore some great side hustle ideas suitable for college students.
Sell Stock Photos
Book covers, websites, brochures, and practically anything that comes across your mind usually use stock photos to spice up their products through images. College students who love photography can have their photos sent to websites like Shutterstock. The website will sell these photos and students are given some commission. Go all out and take photos with your family or friends as models. Or snap photos of random objects, experiences, and scenes.
Babysitting
Babysitting is a very rewarding and flexible side hustle that typically involves caring for kids while their adults are away. This is the best side hustle for college students who are majoring in early childhood education. College students with ample experience in childcare have a lot of opportunities through local community groups, by word of mouth, or via online platforms like Care.com or Sittycity.com.
Before applying for a babysitting job, understand that you need to pass a background check. It also gives you an advantage if you have first aid and CPR training. As per the time commitment, babysitting varies based on the arrangement, but this normally involves weekends, evenings, and occasional weekday shifts.
The average rate for babysitters is $18, with significant geographic variability.
Dog Walking
This is good for Veterinary Medicine majors or for those who have the passion to spend time outdoors with dogs. Dog walking is an easy side hustle for college students because there are so many pet owners who no longer have the time to walk their dogs themselves. Instead, they rely on dog walkers to make sure that their furry pets get enough exercise and clean fresh air.
To find dog owners, promote your services via online platforms like Rover, Nextdoor, Facebook, or Marketplace. On average, dog walkers are paid $15 an hour, plus tips.
Tutoring
Tutoring is an excellent way of earning extra cash. Whether you are tutoring your classmates or young children, you can earn decent money out of it. Make an account at TutorMe to become an online tutor and earn up to $16 an hour tutoring online. You can also gain clients by advertising your skills with your school, looking at the job board in your university, or checking out tutoring gigs in your local Facebook groups or through NextDoor.
Give Tours
If you live in a “touristy” town or city, becoming a tour guide is an amazing side hustle for every college student. Start by assessing what you know about the city you’re at (local architecture, legendary ghost stories, best local eateries), then work on a salable tour route. AirBnB is a perfect site to advertise your tour. You may also go for local interest websites. You can also try to get in touch with your school’s admission office and ask if they are looking for tour guides to help them show potential students around.
Food Delivery Services
Everybody loves takeout. From your college professors to your peers and classmates, and even to your young neighbors, everyone loves to have their food delivered right to their doorsteps. If you have your own car, try to become a driver for food delivery services like DoorDash, GrubHub, or UberEats. Just wait for the order to be placed, pick up the order from the restaurant, and deliver.
Drive for Lyft or Uber
College students who brought their own care to college can make excellent money working for driving companies like Lyft or Uber. Almost everybody loves this service to help them get anywhere: from the airport to the grocery store, to the gym, or to the park. You can also drive around the college campus, especially if it’s packed with car-less college students.
Haul Junk
It was just a few years back when a young businessman appeared on a TV show called Shark Tank to promote his company called College Hunks Hauling Junks. Today, this company is continuously growing and is a good side hustle for college students.
Anybody, both men and women, can apply and work by hauling junk from the properties of homeowners and people who cannot bother hauling it themselves. However, if you are not open about working for existing companies, use your own (or rented) pick-up truck and make an ad for junk removal through Craigslist and various local service sites.
Become a Handyman/Woman.
There will always be people who don’t want to or cannot do basic household repairs no matter where you live. If you possess some handy skills or two, why not offer your services as a handyman/woman? Advertise your services through flyers or on your local services website.
You can even set your hours and set your ideal rate for every handy task. Remember, people are more than willing to shell out good money to have somebody install a new lighting fixture, swing a hammer, or assemble a piece of furniture.
Start an Etsy Business
This is a perfect side hustle for students who possess some artistic talents. From making cards to crocheted scarves, baby girl bows, and practically anything crafty, you can sell all these things via Etsy. But what if you’re not crafty? Can you still earn something out of Etsy? Of course, you can. Shop around for interesting treasures at estate and local garage sales, then sell these finds on your personal Etsy page.
Be a Freelancer
For the past years, there has been a growing number of people earning money as freelance writers. If you can write well, code, illustrate, or do graphic design, there are plenty of websites that will connect freelancers with people who need to get some work done. Upwork, for example, is one website where you can find projects individually, post your rates, and work on a project based on your own schedule.
Become a Tutor
Especially if you are talented at chemistry, French, physics, math, or any other subjects that tend to stump others, why not offer your tutorial services? Parents will always want their kids—whether in high school, elementary, or even college, to succeed. Most of them are more than willing to shell out extra money for tutoring services.
Be mindful, however, that this kind of side hustle not only requires genuine knowledge of a specific subject. You also need to have the capacity to teach. If you think you can handle both these crucial elements, then start assessing your hourly rate and get yourself started.
Offer Painting Services
Some people find it peaceful to do painting jobs. If you’re like them, you can offer your services as a painter. This is an amazing side hustle, considering a lot of homeowners doing the paint jobs themselves at their house.
Most of these people are happy to hire college students to do the painting for them. Before you start, make sure you do some research and figure out prices, then invest in some good-quality rollers and paint brushes.
Entertain Kids at Parties
This is a very lucrative side hustle but will require you to spend some money to start. If you are willing to invest in costumes and props, entertaining kids during parties is an excellent side hustle for college students.
To start, select your entertainment. Are you going to be a Disney princess? A clown? A balloon artist? A magician? After deciding, advertise your services to your local community pages and your social media page, and prepare to spend fun weekend parties with little kids.
Housecleaning
Cleaning houses are very demanding, especially for homeowners who are not used to doing the cleaning themselves. Some people prefer to pay for cleaning services so they can save time. As a house cleaner, you can provide your services independently or join professional cleaning services.
It’s an amazing way to earn while you’re in college. Depending on the house size, the rate per hour for house cleaning will vary. The location and the level of cleaning required also matter. House cleaners, on average, are paid $13 an hour.
Virtual Assistant
Virtual assistants provide remote support to businesses and individuals. Some of the administrative tasks include scheduling appointments, managing emails, doing research, and many more. This type of side hustle is suitable for college students with solid communication and organizational skills.
While there is no major needed to become a virtual assistant, those with communications or business administration majors have an edge over other Vas because of their focus on their organizational skills.
Virtual assistants may also perform remote work in other various areas like bookkeeping, project management, customer support, and many more. VAs can find jobs at different sites like Upwork and get paid between $10 and $20.
Editor or Proofreader
If you have a strong command of English and grammar, and you are very particular with detail, you can work as an editor or proofreader. This rewarding side hustle includes reviewing and revising content to ensure clarity and accuracy.
Journalism, communication, and English majors can provide a strong foundation for future proofreaders and editors. Being adept in the technical field is crucial, so having a combination of technical and language skills can significantly help you land different niche editing opportunities. From Upwork, you can find editing and proofreading jobs that get paid from $18 to $35, though this will generally depend on the content complexity.
Substitute Teacher
You do not need any experience or a teaching certificate to work as a substitute teacher. This side hustle, however, requires you to have at least a high school diploma. You will also be subjected to an extensive background check. If you have some spare time during a traditional school day, you can sign up with your school district to qualify as a substitute teacher.
Teaching Sports or Music
If you have talent in music or sports, giving lessons proves to be a very lucrative side hustle. You can offer your services to your fellow college students, to young children, or even to adults. You only need to have your own music or sports equipment to get started. But if you don’t own one, try renting from your college’s athletics or music department.
Once you have the equipment in place, advertise your music and sports training services at music stores, local gyms, schools, and community websites, then evaluate your hours and rates.
AI Jobs
Just recently, the demand for highly skilled artificial intelligence (AI) professionals is rapidly increasing. College students with expertise and knowledge in artificial intelligence have the chance to find side hustles in this highly in-demand field. This is a perfect fit for students studying artificial intelligence, data science, or computer science.
Today, prompt engineers work on making AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots. Other roles in AI include data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI consultants, where your AI know-how and skills are highly valuable.
The hourly rates for AI jobs generally vary on the required level of expertise of the professional and the specific role expected of him. For instance, prompt engineers from Upwork usually charge between $35 and $150 per hour.
Things to Consider When Choosing Your Side Hustle
With the rising cost of college education, more and more college students are looking for ways to earn extra money. If you wish to have a side hustle, and you have skills that you believe can help you earn more, plus you have some time to spare in between your college classes, there are some important things you need to take into consideration before finding the right job for you.
Go for a side hustle that will match your interests and skills.
Before you put your energy into finding a side hustle, you need to contemplate what it is exactly that you are going to do. To become successful, keep in mind that your side hustle must involve your interests and skills. For example, if you have a talent for writing, but you are not passionate about doing it, then becoming a freelance writer is not likely the right path to consider.
Draft a list of the things that you truly enjoy, making sure that you are also good at it. For example, if you are skilled at graphic design and enjoy using photo editing software, you could be a freelance designer. Do you love walking and dogs? A dog walking job may be perfect for you! You might also want to check out becoming a rideshare driver of Lyft or Uber if you enjoy driving.
Make time commitments.
If you are already loaded with your subjects, you need to assess first if you still have free time to spare for a side hustle. Committing a lot of time can lead to burnout, and this will not only compromise your job but also your schooling. Monitor your schedule and check for patterns.
Create a strong business plan.
After identifying what side hustle can provide you extra cash, create a business plan. It should focus on what you should do to make the side hustle thrive. Since this will change after some time once you start earning, make sure you are flexible with your ideas.
Start with drafting a summary to help you assess the most critical aspects of your planned side hustle. Create an outline of the business that you will have and the problems you are trying to solve. Do you have plenty of friends struggling to find someone to look after their pets when they’re away? A pet-sitting business can address this problem while you earn some more extra cash.
Next is to identify your target market. How will you find customers? How can you build your ‘business’? Although word of mouth is a huge factor, you also need to set aside money and time toward a plan to draw more customers. Take advantage of the power of social media, especially since it’s free to create a business page.
Finally, evaluate how much money you need, if any, to start your business. If you plan to work freelance as a designer, marketer, or writer, most likely, you already have the necessary tools at your disposal. But if you’re thinking about putting up a business, say an Etsy business, you need to invest in arts and crafts materials and the like.
Work out on your earning goals.
Upon starting your side hustle, you probably didn’t have a clear idea yet of how much money you were expecting to make. But extra cash is always positive. While this is true, earning $20 a week might make you wonder if your spare time is worth sacrificing at all.
Conversely, you also do not want to start a business with unrealistic expectations.
How Do You Successfully Manage A College Side Hustle?
Managing a side hustle while simultaneously working on your college commitments needs strategic planning. To help you thrive, here are some helpful tips.
Practice efficient time management skills. Use time-blocking techniques, set realistic deadlines, and make a schedule that will balance both your academic obligations with your side hustle.
Prioritize your academic commitments. Set aside enough time for completing assignments, attending classes, and studying. Remember, your academics must always take precedence.
Balance your mental and physical well-being. Never overwork yourself. Engage in various self-care activities, take breaks, and make sure that your mental and physical well-being is at its best state. To achieve long-term success, always find a balance.
Build a solid support network. Your circle should be composed of mentors and peers who can provide you with support and guidance as you navigate both your college life and side hustle. A solid support network can open doors to many opportunities.
Take advantage of online resources and tools. There are plenty of productivity apps, project management software, digital calendars, and other online tools that will help you efficiently stay managed and organized.
Other High-Paying Jobs for College Students
Barista
Baristas work in coffee shops, taking orders, making drinks, and delivering completed orders. They also welcome new customers, introduce them to the most recent specials, discounts, and promotions, restock supplies, clean the dining area, and update outdoor and indoor signages. On average, baristas earn $14,89 per hour.
Library Assistant
Library assistants help librarians manage a library. They catalog, sort, and shelve books according to their category. They also help readers locate, check in and out library books, register new readers, and respond to inquiries and requests. You can earn $15.61 per hour working as a library assistant.
Research Assistant
You will work mostly in a university or a laboratory if you decide to work as a research assistant. Research assistants have plenty of responsibilities, like preparing summaries of studies, doing research, creating progress reports, making research budgets, and summarizing research results. This position is ideal for students who are enrolled in science courses. Research assistants earn $17.38 per hour.
Resident Advisor
A resident advisor will oversee the activities in college dormitories, making sure that all its residents are safe. Some of their responsibilities include monitoring residents, ensuring that they abide by the dorm’s rules and regulations of the building, giving updates on new dorm policies, and acting as the representative between housing officials and residents.
Resident advisors are also the ones who welcome new dorm residents, check them in, and give advice where needed. You can earn $17.44 per hour as a resident advisor.
Campus Representative
With a national average salary of $17.41 per hour, a campus representative works with companies and brands to create awareness and boost sales. These representatives are usually college students who use their connections to promote brands in a more personal way than advertisements and billboards.
When you work as a campus representative, you will represent the brand you’re working for in your campus ambassador role. You will handle many duties on behalf of the organization you’re working for with the main goal of winning more customers.
Bartender
A bartender works at a restaurant or bar and serves drinks to customers. Their main task is to interact with clients and receive and serve their orders.
They also make cocktails, restock bar supplies, and serve food. Because bars do not serve alcoholic drinks, bartenders check IDs to verify their customers are of legal drinking age. The national average salary of a bartender is $15.89 per hour.
Earning some extra money during college is very important these days, considering the expensive cost of higher education. Side hustles can significantly help college students earn cash easily. What’s great about these jobs is that you do not have to possess special skills or wait for somebody to hire you.
Side hustles are simple jobs that you can do during your free time in school. Depending on the job type, you have the freedom to set your own rates and decide what services you can offer. If you’re a current college student and wish to try a side hustle, consider the options above.
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