20 Best Side Hustles for College Students

If you are a struggling college (or university) student you will know that many times during your course work you would be grateful for an extra few bucks. However, if you are studying full time or doing an intensive course holding down a regular job can be easier said than done.

Almost 70% of all college students are concerned about their finances and wondering how to pay for school or just their monthly expenses. The chance to make a bit extra can relieve some of that pressure.

Of course, you can always go the route of doing bar work or similar which is scheduled as short shifts, but you are still committed to specific times, and the late nights don’t always go well with homework or assignment obligations.

You need a side hustle. Something that is flexible to a degree that you can work when you choose and make some extra cash. So here are some of the best sides hustles currently available for college students.

Increasingly when people travel for business they are booking the services of a house sitter. Making sure that their property is secure, plants are watered and the mail is collected are some of the tasks you may be asked to do. 

There could be light maintenance or care of a pet included but this is a relatively easy way to get some extra cash. You simply go about your business as normal but stay at the customer’s house instead of at your usual residence. 

You might get a few advantages too. Often you will get to stay in higher-end homes and if they have perks like superfast internet or every channel imaginable included on their cable TV well, you get the benefit of that.

• What things will you be responsible for in the home? Watering plants, collecting mail or similar tasks.
• Are you expected to clean while you are staying at the residence?
• Make sure that your clients provide of plumbers, electricians numbers and the like in case of any disasters.
• Do you need to be at the house at specific times for any reason?

If you are a budding horticulturist or just have a green thumb then you could earn yourself a tidy sum by offering landscaping services. These can range from simple mowing and cutting of lawns or weeding to full landscaping and garden design services depending on how much time you can dedicate to it. 

A few simple tools, a lawnmower, and some simple flyers dropped around the local neighborhoods should be enough to get you started. This can be especially lucrative during the summer months when people don’t want to spend all day in their garden in the hot sun. 

You will get a tan and you can earn even more during the summer holiday while you are out of school.

• How to advertise your services, where to get your clients.
• Do you need any special licenses to operate in your city or state?
• Unless you are operating very close to home you will need a vehicle
• How will you manage the scheduling and rescheduling of clients due to bad weather?
• Do you need to consider hiring additional helpers for larger jobs

Contrary to popular belief you don’t always have to own a large truck to make money from moving services. There are many businesses like College Hunks Hauling Junk that you can sign up with and offer your labor services. 

If you do happen to have access to a vehicle large or small then you can advertise your moving services for full house moves or simple transportation of clunky items. 

Either way, this can be a nice money earner that requires not much more than being physically fit enough to repetitively move heavy items. Saves you paying for the gym too!

• If going through a service do they expect you to commit to specific times or a minimum number of shifts.
• Physical stamina, will the heavy work take so much of a toll that it impacts your ability to effectively do your college work and classes.
• If you have your own vehicle what items will you agree to haul or move?
• If you do operate your own service do you need to pay a helper to assist you in moving large items

It is not everyone’s favorite pastime, actually, it is NOBODY’s favorite pastime but cleaning is a fact of life. If you are willing to go around people’s homes with a duster and a vacuum cleaner then you may be able to create a nice side hustle for yourself by offering cleaning services.

Once you have a few clients you can always upsell a bit and charge extra fees for scrubbing down trim work or cleaning ovens and refrigerators. 

Word of mouth and a couple of ads in local publications should bring you some clients. People are always on the lookout for trustworthy and reliable cleaners. If you get a number of clients you may decide to take on some staff and outsource jobs.

• Determine what falls under your scope of work of ‘cleaning’. Dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning bathrooms are all reasonable requests, but plant watering and cupboard tidying may be outside of your acceptable scope.
• If you outsource work or hire additional staff how will you effectively manage those jobs?
• Cost of supplies. If you have a good number of clients you might want to find a wholesale supplier so you can take advantage of cheaper priced cleaning materials.

After you have spent all day in class you may not relish the thought of having to stay there even longer but teaching is a legitimate way to make some dough and it usually returns pretty good rates. 

If you are studying a specialized subject you may be able to cash in by teaching younger students what you have learned.

It is worth having a word with your University or College to see if they are currently in need of teachers. If not you can always go outside to private institutions such as trade schools, professional schools or private training facilities.

• Where you will teach. While this is lucrative you may want to consider teaching at a school or educational institution other than your own
• Do you need any special licenses or qualifications to operate as a teacher
• How much time do you want to dedicate to teaching classes as well as taking your own studies
• Teaching doesn’t end when you leave the classroom, there will be marking, grading and homework assessments to be completed.

If the thought of teaching an entire classroom fills you with fear then you may be able to still earn decent rates by offering your services as a Teaching Assistant. Just like teachers, schools and colleges are often in the market for reliable staff to assist their class teachers.

You will need to be organized and comfortable interacting with people but other than that you will not need a slew of qualifications to perform teaching assistant duties. You can often select the days or classes you are available for making this a nice option to schedule around your own classes.

• Determine if you are comfortable performing assistant work in your own school or decide if you should go elsewhere
• Check for any licensing or formal teaching requirements needed
• Decide on a reasonable number of classes to assist in so that you don’t take on too much.

But I am a struggling student, I have no car! I hear you cry. Well, before you dismiss this one completely you should know that Uber and Lyft now both have programs in place for you to lease a car. You may lease a vehicle for a set period of time or simply choose to rent only on the weeks you want to work.

You get to meet people and drive around your city for money. There are fees to rent the cars of course, but overall you should be able to make some extra cash for your pocket. If you actually do own a vehicle that qualifies for use with Uber and Lyft then, of course, you can elect to use it.

• What times you are comfortable driving. Day driving and night driving will have a different clientele. You may not be comfortable driving the bar crowd at 2 am in the morning.
• Is the money worth the wear and tear on your own car or should you consider renting a vehicle
• Some states require special badges or similar to enter certain areas like airports. Check that the potential earnings are worth the investment
• Might end up in some not so good areas so consider what is safe for you and what is not.

If you do have your own vehicle but are not keen on the idea of complete strangers jumping in and out of it then you could always try food delivery instead. There are many companies around like Postmates or Doordash that offer delivery services for busy people.

As a courier working for these organizations you will be expected to drive to a restaurant, collect a food order, check it for accuracy, then deliver it directly to the customer’s door. You will receive a fee for each delivery and customers will often leave a tip for you which you get to keep 100% of. Not bad.

• There are more than one of these delivery services so will you sign up with one or go with a couple to maximize your earnings
• Vehicle size. If you have a highly economical small car food delivery can be lucrative. If you have a huge gas-guzzling truck this may not be a worthwhile option for you.
• Parking tickets. As you are in and out of popular restaurants at peak times there may be restricted parking. Still, you do need to pick up the order and parking in incorrect areas may get you a ticket or two.

Car ownership is expensive so if you are not operating a vehicle while in school and live in a city or densely populated area then you could consider becoming a cycle courier. You will pick up and deliver small packages, often paperwork, to a variety of places.

Office buildings, lawyers, doctors, architects all use the services of cycle couriers when they need to transport packages quickly across town. If you enjoy cycling and know the city well then you can take advantage of this lucrative side hustle.

• Physical fitness will need to be up to par to make any money performing cycle courier work. It is outside in the elements in noisy busy traffic and you are exposed to any type of weather.
• Make sure you have enough city knowledge to perform deliveries effectively and get through the learning curve.
• Bike maintenance. While obviously not as costly as car maintenance all that travel will have an impact on your bike. Brakes, tires, cables will all need to be checked and maintained and you might want to carry a pump and a puncture kit with you.

Rolling up your sleeves and digging into someone’s junk cupboard is not for the faint of heart. But if you are willing to provide organization services there are many people in need. There are a large number of folks that collect or hoard a lot of stuff and then get overwhelmed.

That’s where you come in. You can help people to organize their stuff and determine what they want to keep or throw away and show them how to neatly store the rest. You can sign up with services like Task Rabbit that will pair you with customers in your area.

• To determine the length of the job and give a correct quote it may be worth doing a quick consultation so you can see just how much work is involved.
• Determine if you will need to buy any cleaning tools or specialized equipment
• Will you dispose of any trash items or will that be the customer’s responsibility? You may be able to add on a fee for disposal.

With the stresses of work and modern-day life many hard-working people are stuck at the office all day and just can’t get back home to care for their pet. You can make quite a nice side business by offering dog walking services so that the animal can get some exercise and not make a mess in the house.

This is a perfect side gig if you like to walk and if you are dog-friendly it hardly seems like work at all. Good dog walkers can soon amass clients and the effective ones can walk 4 or 5 dogs at a time and maximize their profits.

• Decide on the maximum number of dogs you can safely manage at once. You may have 12 bookings in a day but that does not mean that you should attempt to take all of the dogs at once so determine what you are comfortable with
• Set your schedule for your working days. You may just do lunchtimes or weekdays only so make sure your clients know the days you are prepared to work
• It may be prudent to take out a small insurance policy so you are covered for any fights, bites, or escapees.

Dog walking may not be for you but you can still make money from people’s pets. Making a business out of taking care of dogs business can be a good side earner. While it isn’t the most tasteful way to make a buck it’s relatively easy and clients are usually on a regular schedule.

You will a lot of garbage bags and a poop scooper but aside from those items, start-up costs are virtually nil. By advertising this in your local area newspaper or shops you should be able to start booking clients quite quickly. Combine a few in the same area or on the same street and you are making bank.

• Advertising. You could simply have magnets or stickers on your car. As you drive around potential customers will see your information
• Check for special insurance or bonding requirements in your area
• Make sure you are equipped with the right safety items, gloves, goggles, etc.

If you have a knack for sewing, knitting, jewelry making or designing some other sought after and sellable items then Etsy can be a great place to sell your wares. The Etsy marketplace is an area where many talented people upload photos of their designs or handcrafted items and prospective purchasers can browse or buy.

Some people that have dedicated themselves to Etsy have made selling their items into an entire full-time business. There are fees to pay of course but they are relatively low and Etsy is a popular site with lots of traffic so you have a good chance of reaching people that like your creations.

• How much time do you want to dedicate to your promotional efforts? You will need good quality images and detailed descriptions of your goods.
• Once you take into account the listing and selling fees you need to decide if Etsy is the place for you to sell your items
• Your original handmade product will not be so unique on Etsy, there are a huge amount of sellers on there so it can be hard to be found by buyers.

You may not be the handcraft or creative type but you could always consider offering items for resale of eBay. Instead of making your own items you could sell any old things that you no longer need. Laptops, cellphones, DVDs, video games, ornaments, collectibles are all popular categories.

If you have an eye for a bargain you can browse through pawn shops or bric-a-brac stores and find cheap items to list on eBay and sell for a profit. Many people do this full time and make an income for themselves.

There has been a growing movement for companies to outsource their administration tasks to professionals. There is a need for transcriptionists, virtual assistants, data entry clerks, digital marketing jobs, and many other positions. You can cash in by providing some of these services.

To find companies that need help you can sign up with services like Freelancer or Upwork where you can search by category. Maybe you are a great javascript programmer or you have a knack for UX, the options are many and you can negotiate your own pay rates in most cases.

• Decide on the services that you will offer as a freelancer and stick to them. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin
• Will you work on or off the platform, some customers may request that you work with them directly
• Make sure you negotiate the scope of work upfront and what is included so there is no confusion later

To get a good job a good resume and cover letter will be required. If you have a good grasp of the English language and can format a professional-looking resume you can earn money for doing it. A bit of research will be required if you are styling a resume for an industry you have never been involved with.

The great thing about this gig is that you are in the perfect place to operate it. You are already a student and every year hundreds of young hopefuls graduate and go out in search of their career. You can help them with this endeavor and a few class flyers or an ad in your college or university library will get you started.

• If performing resume writing for your own school or college’s students be aware of reputation management. One unhappy student might ruin your whole business by word of mouth
• You may want to specialize in creating resumes for industries that you have some knowledge of. Too much research time can cut down your profit
• Determine your rates, will you charge a flat fee or have a fee for a resume and a seperate fee for a cover letter?

This is another gig that you can offer right within your school or college. All that course work can get tedious and another set of eyes is often just the thing that’s needed. You can make money by hiring out your retinas and casting your eye over college work, assignments, and dissertations.

Proofreading and editing can take a bit of effort to do and you have to be detail-oriented, but the rewards can be lucrative. As you get better you should be able to review a higher volume of work improving your bottom line.

• How much time will be needed? While proofreading and editing are not necessarily hard it will take some time. A few 25000-word dissertations that need proofreading and editing will soon run into hours of work.
• Which areas or industries will you check and edit? It’s worth focussing on those that you have a decent knowledge of otherwise the research you will need to do may just take too long.

You may not be creative as such but if you are a whiz with a paintbrush then there is money to be made from painting people’s houses. Decorating is one of those tasks that everyone needs to do but no-one enjoys. You can help with that.

If you can dedicate your weekends to house painting then you charge very good rates for your services. There will be some start-up investment, ladders, paint buckets, brushes, drop cloths and the like but it shouldn’t take long to start earning good rates.

• You may need to consider hiring another person to help you complete larger jobs and you will be responsible for negotiating a rate and paying them.
• It is worth being bonded and insured before beginning painting work. This gives you some legitimacy and protects you from any liability from damages.
• Decide what kind of jobs you want to take on. House painting can range from small bungalows to huge homes. If you find yourself in a house with a 20-foot ceiling you will need to buy or hire some kind of scaffolding platform to perform the task so determine if it is something that you want to get involved in.

Busy mums and dads often need a bit of help or a night off. You may be quite happy to sit at home on a Saturday night, watch TV, and keep an eye on a baby or toddler. If that is the case then you can earn extra by providing babysitting services.

No formal skills are required but it may be worth getting a couple of character references together and taking a basic first aid course just to give the parents some assurance that you are a responsible human being. Looking after other people’s children is quite a responsibility but can be rewarding.

• Parents tend to be a bit protective of their bundle of joy, as they should be, but sometimes parents can be obsessive and unreasonable. It is worth a meet and greet before babysitting just to ensure you are dealing with reasonable people
• While special skills may not be legally required it is worth seeing if you can get a first aid or childcare certificate to prove you are properly equipped to look after a child.
• It may be worth getting some kind of insurance to protect you in the event of any issues.

Love where you live? Have a wealth of knowledge about local history? If you do then you can charge money for operating tours in your city. Taking visitors around and educating them about the buildings, events, and history of the area can be a lot of fun.

If you are not sure where to start then Airbnb has a tours page where people can advertise their tour packages for a fee. You can decide which dates you will operate the tours on and determine exactly where you want to go and what you want to teach.

• Make sure your knowledge and history of the local area are up to par. You don’t want to be stuttering or stumbling if asked a question
• Know your competition. Try and find out who else is operating tours and try and make yours a bit different or give your tour an angle that no-one else has thought of.
• Even if you go through a company like Airbnb you still may need some kind of license or special permission to operate tours in your city so make sure you check with local authorities.

As a college student sometimes your time is limited by the obligations of your studies but as you can see from this list there are multiple ways for you to make some extra money on the side.

Most of these tasks can be scheduled around your school work and fit in nicely with your studies while providing you an extra income to help with your expenses.

What side hustles have you found that worked great for you?