19 Side Hustles for College Students

College can get pretty expensive. You go to school to develop the skills you need so you can find employment a few years later. Working in college can allow you to help minimize the cost of your tuition and allow you to pay down the debt quickly so you can become debt-free. Side hustles for college students need to allow students to be able to complete their studies while earning some extra money to help them pay for rent, food, and their tuition. In this post, we’ll share some side hustles for college students you’ll likely be able to work in quite easily to help you build your resume so you can land a job upon graduation.

Academic Side Hustles for College Students

1. Research Assistant

One of the best side hustles for college students is being a research assistant. You might be doing database research to be able to summarize articles for professors. You might even collect survey responses or conduct interviews. You might even use statistical software to help you analyze data. In your role, you’ll be organizing things like notes, transcripts, and datasets to help professors or graduate students with their research. You might have some writing work to do, as well as you might play a role in drafting some sections of research papers or grant proposals.

2. Teaching Assistant

One of the most common side hustles for college students in the classroom is a teaching assistant. In this side hustle, you’ll be doing things like leading class discussions, study groups, or review sessions. You’ll likely have office hours where college students can drop in to ask you questions about essays and course material. You might be involved in the feedback and grading of assignments, essays, or projects. You’ll need to keep track of college students’ grades. You might even be a substitute teacher if the professor can’t make it to a class one day. For the most part, you’ll be a peer mentor to students.

3. Lab Assistant

A popular academic side hustle for college students is a lab assistant. You might be involved in preparing lab equipment and materials, helping professors and researchers with prep work for experiments. You might have to clean or sterilize equipment after use. You might be involved in detailing the observations made during the experiment and then entering that data into a spreadsheet or any other databases. You might be working on your own experiments, but under the supervision of a superior. This side hustle for college students is great practical experience in research, allowing you to eventually land a role in a lab.

4. Campus Ambassador

If you’re looking for a fun side hustle for college students, you can consider a role like campus ambassador. You’ll act as the face of the brand that hires you on your school campus. You might distribute flyers, swag, and samples. You’ll also likely be involved in event planning and organizing at your school to promote the brand to students across campus. You might be active on social media and create online buzz. Some campus ambassadors help in the recruitment of students, like new graduates or interns. You might have to build partnerships with campus clubs, school departments, or professors, depending on the brand you’re working with.

5. Resident Assistant

A side hustle for college students is none other than a resident assistant. In your role, you’ll be involved in organizing events and activities for college students, such as movie nights, study groups, and more. You’ll work to make the residence a safe place for students. You might be a peer mentor to students for academic and personal concerns. You might even connect students with resources they need that are easily accessible across campus. You might have to mediate some conflicts or handle noise complaints when people are trying to study. Overall, it’s a pretty low-key job.

Education Side Hustles for College Students

1. Tutor

One of the most popular side hustles in college is tutoring. During your time in college, you’ll be surrounded by students who may need extra help in learning a subject. Whether you tutor other college students or high school students with your growing expertise, you’ll find plenty of potential students who will need help in subjects like math, English, science, languages, and more. Overall, you can find recurring income from students who need help with their homework each week. You can take the time needed to help them learn the subject in greater depth so they can succeed by passing the class and moving on up to the next grade level.

2. SAT/ACT/GRE Prep Instructor

If you’re looking for a side hustle in college, you can try out a role as an SAT, ACT, or GRE prep instructor. In your role, you’ll likely be involved in teaching high school students, sharing strategies for test-taking, explaining concepts in math, reading, writing, and analytical reasoning with careful detail. You might create your own lesson plans or follow the plan of the company you’re working with. You’ll help students reduce anxiety about their tests so they can go into them with confidence. You’ll provide feedback on the essays students write so they can get better. If this seems like too much work for you, you could even invigilate for MCAT or LSAT tests which is typically a short-term job during test periods.

3. Music Instructor

A side hustle for college students with some musical skills is being a music instructor. Many music instructors start playing an instrument when they’re very young. Some start as early as three. If you’ve been playing an instrument for over a decade and have advanced through the levels as a student, you’ll be able to start teaching younger or more inexperienced students. You’ll be able to give them feedback on their posture, breathwork, or other insights, depending on what instrument they’re learning how to play. Many music schools offer part-time jobs you can work at in college. Some colleges even have music programs where you can offer your services to people who are trying to get better at their craft.

Office Side Hustles for College Students

1. Administrative Assistant

On a college campus, administrative assistant roles are usually a job application away. You can find these jobs across your recruitment office, career departments, and so on. Administrative assistant roles are ideal for those looking for side hustles for college students, as there are so many roles available to apply to. With AI, you can use tools to help you in your job as an administrative assistant, so you can complete more tasks faster.

2. Library Assistant

All college campuses have on-site libraries so students can study. It’s also a great place to find a campus job so you can earn some extra money while working and studying at that school. You’ll have a pretty chill job as you’ll be checking books in and out of the system. You might help students find specific books that they’re looking for. As a library assistant, you might be putting books back on the shelves.

3. Marketing Assistant

Another side hustle for college students is a marketing assistant. In this role, you might be involved in managing social media accounts, writing blog posts, newsletters, or other forms of copy. You might be involved in some market research or competitor comparisons to ensure you stand out in your campaigns. You’ll also be involved in analytics and monitoring the success of the work you do by analyzing engagements and other key performance indicators. Overall, a marketing assistant is a fun side hustle for college students.

4. Social Media Manager

You can also land a paying gig as a social media manager while in college. You can find roles online or through your college to earn income while in school. You can apply to part-time social media roles where you’ll be involved in content creation, responding to comments and direct messages, building relationships with student ambassadors and other influencers, and planning activities, such as giveaways, collaborations, or campaigns. You’ll also be involved in analyzing your performance by looking at key metrics, such as follower growth, engagement, and more.

5. Event Coordinator Assistant

Every college has multiple event roles, allowing you to pick up an event side hustle at college. You may be involved in activities at your school, such as your residence hall, bar, career center, or orientation week. Overall, you can find both paid event roles across your college campus to get involved in. You might plan career fair events or residence parties for holidays like Halloween. The type of events you plan will depend on what sort of side hustle you’ve picked up for yourself within the event space and what kind of events they typically host.

Writing and Creative Side Hustles for College Students

1. Student Journalist

Most schools have college newspapers you can write for as a student. Depending on the role you get at the newspaper, you might be able to get paid for your work. You can start this side hustle for college students by applying for a role during the school year. Some schools hire for these roles the year before the upcoming school year, so you’ll need to be on the lookout for this kind of work. While some writers may be volunteers for the school paper, you could find paid opportunities as an editor, depending on your school.

2. Content Writer

College students can start working on their writing career while in college by doing some freelance writing for top publications. You can make hundreds of dollars on a single article that you write on a topic. Many top publications pay their freelance writers hundreds to thousands of dollars for a single article. If you have a flat-rate fee, you’ll likely earn more than if you charge per word. Content writer is the ideal side hustle for college students in humanities types of programs, where you regularly write essays. Keep in mind that essays and blog posts aren’t the same writing style, reading level, or format.

3. Graphic Designer

Like freelance writing, graphic design work can easily be done on a freelance basis. If you’re currently in school for art, graphic design, or a related field, you could apply to online freelance graphic design jobs as a side hustle. College students who enjoy doing design work can easily find graphic work on freelance websites, through job ads, or on other relevant graphic design job board sites. The work you do could be done in between classes, allowing you the most flexibility while in college.

4. Photographer/Videographer

One of the side hustles for college students is photographer or videographer. These kinds of jobs can be done on a part-time basis throughout the school year. You can work with clients who are getting married and take photographs or videos of their wedding day. You can also find clients for maternity shoots, music videos, corporate events, and so on.

Tech Side Hustles for College Students

1. IT Help Desk Assistant

If you’re looking for tech side hustles for college students, consider a role as an IT help desk assistant. In your role, you’ll likely troubleshoot hardware or software issues from laptops, emails, Wi-fi, printers, projectors, and so on. You might be in charge of managing inbound email from students, professors, and staff workers. You’ll help people walk through steps to solve their issues with ease. You might also log issues and resolutions in an organized way to keep track of all issues.

2. Web Developer Intern

Another side hustle for college students is a web developer intern, where you’ll build webpages using a programming language custom to your workplace. You might fix bugs, links, update existing pages, and improve site speed. You might work in sprints and attend stand-up calls to discuss progress with product managers, developers, and leads.

Conclusion

If you’re actively looking for a side hustle in college, you can use a tool like Huntr to create your resume, tailor your resume for campus jobs, review your resume with Huntr’s AI, and more. If you’re ready to dive into application mode to help you land your next college side hustle so you can earn while studying, sign up for Huntr today for free.