Crazy is not an understatement when it comes to these stories. I don’t know whether to praise their creativity or obvious money sense. Some of these strategies I would not suggest for their legality, or lack thereof, but if you can come up with a creative way to pay your way through college, power to ya.

1. Selling Adderall.

My friend Carter* sold Adderall and Ritalin and other stimulants to students on campus. Carter told me the markup is anywhere from 100-1000% of what he pays for the product. The business he does works okay throughout the semester, but come midterm and finals week, the demand gets incredibly higher. Wanna guess his major? Carter is a dual major in Business and Biochemistry.

2. Selling clothes online.

My friend Stacy has been selling clothes on the Poshmark app. So far she has made over $1000 just selling clothes, shoes, makeup and accessories that would have otherwise been laying around in her closet. She said she used the money she made to pay for her Winterim course this past winter.

3. Exhanging cans and bottles for the deposit.

My ingenious friend, Mike, who was in a frat and naturally they partied ALL THE TIME. He and another brother collected all the recyclable cans and bottles and saved them in a storage unit. Eventually, the cashed them all in and made enough back to pay off part of their student loans.

4. Selling Krispy Kremes.

No, I’m not kidding. My friend Kelly put an order in for fundraiser Krispy Kremes. She got the delivery and once every 2-3 months she would set up a table and sell boxes of Krispy Kremes. It paid for her online program in Business Administration.

5. Panhandling.

My friend Jamie* would dress up as if he was homeless. Basically unrecognizable, he would go just off campus by the interstate highway off ramp where other homeless people would go and he would basically panhandle everyday, sometimes for hours. I never asked exactly how much he made, but it must have been a lucrative ploy, because he kept doing it, and never had to take out student loans.

6. Living in the library.

(Although this isn't really making money in college, it's definitely saving money.)

I’ve heard other stories about students at other universities living in their cars or school’s libraries. I’m going to tell you about this mystery guy who I saw in the library quite a few times at my old school. I had problems with a crazy roommate myself so I hid out in the library myself on nights I couldn’t go back to my dorm. I had seen this one guy there every. single. time. I was at the library. The library had certain study rooms and lounges that would close at 2AM. I noticed that during the open hours, he would be napping in other places of the library, and right before the closing hours, he would go to the back of the rooms and hide out until they locked them up. I have no idea if anyone else knew what was up, and if they just let him crash there. I’m assuming he showered in the nearby gym. Shoutout to that guy though, what a champ.

*names have been changed