Posts published on March 6, 2015

5 Ways to Earn an Extra Buck without Taking a Break from Studies

By Melissa Burns

Even if your parents support you while you are at college, learning to fend for yourself and make money on your own as early as possible is always a good idea. And if you have to pay for your education in part or in its entirety, finding ways to do so turns into an issue of life and death. However, working while you are at college requires a lot of effort and self-discipline. But, as they say, when given lemons, make lemonade – why not turn your student status from a liability to an asset? There are dozens of creative ways to make money without straying too far away from scholarly activities.

1.     Grant Hunting

There are lots and lots of grants and scholarships that can considerably ease your financial burden; there may be less of them than it used to be, but still. Some students think that you can only get a scholarship when you apply for college – it is not true. There are grants for senior years, for students occupied in certain activities, for students in specific positions – all you need is to find them and be eligible. There are even apps like Scholly that are specifically aimed at finding scholarships.

2.     Tutoring

If your main goal of staying in college is to gain knowledge (we hope so), then you have probably heard that the best way to learn something is to teach somebody else. And it is true – when you explain a difficult point to somebody who doesn’t understand it, you improve your own understanding of it. If you don’t charge as a professional tutor students will be more likely to come to you – after all, you understand them and their situation better than anybody else, being a student yourself. Moreover – in some cases you can do it with the approval of your college and get officially paid for it – usually for tutoring other students in classes you’ve already passed.

3.     Join an Essay Writing Service

As a student, you are likely to write essays at least from time to time – more or less often depending on your subject. If you are reasonably good at it, why not use it to an advantage? You can offer your services to an essay writing service and get paid for very same activity you have to do for free at college. And it doesn’t just help you pay the bills – by writing some additional essays you will be able to hone your writing skills and do better at college later on; in other words, it is a win-win situation.

4.     Proofreading

If your writing and editing skills are good enough, you may try your hand at proofreading the essays of your fellow students for an affordable fee. This, again, helps to improve your own writing skills (you get to see how others write their essays, what mistakes they make, what they do better and what worse than you) while allowing you to have a modest, but still an income. International students should get a special notion – their grasp of English may be rather tentative, which means that they are more likely to look for proofreading services and pay higher for them.

5.     Grading

If you think that professors really grade all the tests, papers and homework of their students, learn this: they usually work together with graders, i.e. students, sometimes their teaching assistants, sometimes not, who do most of the work. This job is generally paid $7.50-$10 per hour, depending on the college and course, and allows you to earn a little extra without leaving your school.

As you see, there are a lot more opportunities for improving your financial situation as a student than waiting tables. Do a little research and you will be able to kill two birds with one stone: hone your skills and fill your wallet.

 Author’s bio:

Melissa Burns  graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she

is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information

technologies and how these ones may be implemented in the sphere of education. You may contact

Melissa via e-mail: burns.melissaa@gmail.com