Broke in college? You’ve got more options than ramen and hoping for a refund check. A part-time job, a delivery app, a couple of survey apps and cash back on stuff you’d buy anyway can add up to real money over a semester.
And here’s why it matters more than it looks: every dollar you earn is a dollar you don’t have to borrow. On an unsubsidized federal loan, interest starts building while you’re still in school, so borrowing $1,000 less at 6.52% saves you about $65 in interest for every year that money would have sat on the loan.
The short answer
- A regular part-time or campus job is still the most reliable money. Apps fill the gaps.
- Delivery apps like DoorDash let you work around your class schedule.
- Survey, rewards and cash back apps pay small amounts for spare minutes.
- Whatever you earn, borrowing less is the payoff. Unsubsidized loans charge you interest during school.
Why earning money in college cuts your student loan bill
Federal loans come in two kinds for undergrads. On subsidized loans, the government pays the interest while you’re in school at least half time. On unsubsidized loans, you owe all of the interest, including what builds up while you’re in class and during the six-month grace period after.
Example: borrowing $1,000 less
- Loan type
- Direct Unsubsidized, undergrad
- Rate
- 6.52%
- Interest avoided
- about $65.20 a year
How we got it: $1,000 times 6.52% is $65.20 for each year the money would have been borrowed. That’s a simple estimate. Unpaid interest can also be added to your balance later, which makes the real cost a little higher. The 6.52% applies to undergraduate loans first disbursed July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.
Already borrowed? Paying the interest while you’re in school keeps it from piling up. We walk through that in paying student loans while you’re in college.
1. Get a part-time or campus job
It’s boring advice, but a regular paycheck beats every app on this list. Campus jobs tend to work around class schedules, and an internship in your major pays you and helps your resume at the same time.
If your financial aid offer includes Federal Work-Study, ask the aid office how to find a work-study job. It’s money you’ve already been offered.
2. Deliver food on your own schedule
Delivery apps are the easiest flexible gig if you’re at least 18 and have a car, scooter or, in some cities, a bike. You go online between classes and log off before an exam. Our driving for DoorDash guide covers how the pay works and the taxes nobody mentions. For more ideas, see these gig economy jobs.
3. Take surveys in your dead time
Surveys won’t pay your tuition. They’re fine for the bus ride or the line at the dining hall, though.
- Survey Junkie lets you cash out at $5, by PayPal, bank transfer or gift card.
- Swagbucks pays for surveys, videos and games. Its $10 sign-up bonus requires spending $25 through its shop within 30 days, so only grab it if you were buying something anyway.
- InboxDollars pays cash for surveys and videos, and its sign-up box shows a $5 bonus.
Our list of apps that pay you to answer questions goes into each one.
4. Earn cash back on stuff you buy anyway
Textbooks, a laptop, dorm stuff: you’re buying it anyway, so get something back. Every time I shop online, I start at Rakuten and then I get cash back deposited into my PayPal account.
Rakuten has a referral sign-up bonus for new members who place at least $50 in qualifying orders within 90 days of joining. Check the current amount on Rakuten’s sign-up page.
5. Get paid to keep an app on your phone
The Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel pays weekly points worth up to about $50 to $60 a year to keep its app on your devices. The trade is that it records the websites you visit. Read our Nielsen panel review before you decide.
6. Play games for gift cards
Mistplay pays you in points for playing new mobile games, and you trade the points for gift cards. It’s on iPhone and Android. Treat it as a little extra, not a job.
7. Collect a few sign-up bonuses
Banks and apps pay new customers to try them. ReferralWallet tracks the sign-up bonuses that actually pay out, and SavingLoop keeps a list of apps that are working right now. Read the terms on each one: most need a deposit, a purchase or some activity before they pay.
Spend less so you borrow less
Making money is half of it. The other half is not borrowing for stuff you could skip.
A budgeting app helps you see where the money goes, and our list of budgeting apps has free options. Pair it with money saving apps and the money tips for college students, and build up a small emergency fund so a car repair doesn’t turn into a credit card balance.
Taxes on side money
Gig and freelance income counts as self-employment income. Once you net $400 or more in a year, you owe self-employment tax of 15.3%, so set some aside.
Next stepSee what borrowing less does to your payoff with our student loan payoff calculator
For bigger side income once you graduate, start with our guide to making money to pay off student loans.
A delivery app like DoorDash is usually the quickest to start once you’re approved, and you choose your own hours. A campus or part-time job pays more reliably over a semester.
It can. Every dollar you don’t borrow saves you interest. On an undergrad Direct Unsubsidized Loan at 6.52%, borrowing $1,000 less saves about $65 in interest for each year the money would have been borrowed.
With Direct Unsubsidized Loans, interest builds up while you’re in school and during the six-month grace period. For Direct Subsidized Loans, the government pays the interest while you’re enrolled at least half time.
Yes. If you net $400 or more from self-employment in a year, you owe self-employment tax of 15.3% on top of any income tax.
Sources (7)
We use primary sources wherever we can: Federal Student Aid, the U.S. Department of Education, the IRS, federal regulations and each company’s own site.
- Federal Student Aid. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans. studentaid.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid. Federal Student Loan Interest Rates. studentaid.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes). irs.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- DoorDash. Become a Dasher. dasher.doordash.com. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Survey Junkie. Survey Junkie. surveyjunkie.com. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Swagbucks. Swagbucks. swagbucks.com. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Nielsen. Computer and Mobile Panel FAQ. computermobilepanel.nielsen.com. Accessed October 22, 2026.
