How to Work and Go to College at the Same time

Many people struggle to keep a full time or part time job while in college. It takes considerable time away from college studies, but then the extra income from a job makes it a bit easier to afford college.

Current College Scenario

Ever since the 1960’s until now, college tuition has been consistently rising much higher than the rate of inflation. To pay for college and living expenses, students feel compelled to taking student loans and also to take a job while in college.

Now let me start by explaining what the disadvantages are with the above approach:

1) Student loans lead innocent young adults into the never-ending rabbit hole of debt and liabilities.

2) Parents and family are forced to spend money on their college-going kids, thereby reducing their savings for later years.

3) When the student takes a job to make ends meet, they keep getting distracted, over-worked and are unable to focus on their college studies.

4) The kids’ career suffers as they undertake many entry-level or low-income jobs which further reduce their chances of career success.

5) Kids get lonely in a far-away college and are unable to handle the stress of the college lifestyle, homesickness and money crunch.

6) The additional social pressure in college can easily cause students to go in the wrong path of alcohol and other poor choices.

7) With all the above issues with college, many of them take much longer to graduate college and some of them even dropout of college at some point.

8) With the current pandemic scare this 2020, even going to work or going to college is not advisable without extremely careful planning. Focus is now shifting more towards online college studies and distance education.

A Much Better Approach to College

But there is a better way! Let me list them for you in an order, starting with the most important steps you can take to make things better:

1) Choose and attend a more affordable college. There are colleges which you can study in that have the lowest tuition-fees imaginable. Take a look at this earlier post on Accelerated College Degrees for more information.

2) The flexible colleges listed in the above article not only provide many low-cost ways to earn college credits but they also do not have any residency requirements.

So kids can feel free to stay with their parents during their college years, thereby reducing their room and board expenses even more.

3) There is no need for the kid to take a full time job and they can more completely focus on their studies. I will also go over another way to make an income in the next few paragraphs which will be much easier and which can more easily align with your college studies.

4) Instead of taking low-income jobs that hurt their career, students will actually be building a good foundation for their career while they are still in college.

5) No more home-sickness or stress of being away from home, kids can study from the comfort of their parents’ home. Older adults going back to college can also study from the comfort of home.

6) No more social pressure of alcohol or wild partying! Kids can learn and plan their future in complete freedom.

7) College is much faster to complete now, as there are so many ways to earn college credits such as online courses, CLEP exams, credits transfer and more.

8) Online and distance education is the main approach of the flexible colleges, so you can feel safe at home while completing college. In the next section, we will also go over the best way to make an income from home while studying for college.

Work While You Do College

There are millions of products and services promoted online and many of them carry affiliate programs for anyone to earn a commission by selling third-party products.

With your current situation of spending more time at home in 2020, why not simply start a blog for income? Be sure to choose a topic for your blog that you are truly passionate about.

Your blog can be about any topic that interests you. There are so many products out there in just about any area or topic. So you can generate an income by focusing on anything that you like to research and write about.

Just buy a domain and then create a low-cost wordpress website and start blogging. Over the next several months, as your blog starts to attract more visitors, you can further grow your blog by recommending and promoting helpful products to your visitors.

Even one or two hours a day with blogging will add up to a great content website and will be a good source of income for you by the time you finish college.

For products to promote, consider becoming an Amazon affiliate, check out other affiliate networks such as Commission Junction, ShareASale and more.

My Work-cum-College Experience

For many years in my 20’s, I was working full time while studying for my four year Bachelors degree from New York State University. Since there was not much of online colleges in the 90’s, most of my studies was via distance education.

I was able to enroll in many low-cost college-level courses in India and get them transferred for US-equivalent college credits via a process known as foreign credential evaluation. I also completed US CLEP exams while working in Qatar as a programmer. The exam was proctored by the US embassy in Qatar.

I spent my daytime at work and my evenings and weekends studying for college. When I started to have a lot of work pressure, there was sufficient flexibility for me to postpone my exams and college studies to more leisure times.

I frequently spoke to my college student counselor on the phone and via emails. I would ask her for advice before starting any new courses and for results of my credits transfer and course evaluations.

YOUR Ideal Work-and-College

Nowadays with the huge popularity of free and low-cost online courses, working and studying for college is easier than ever! But most people do not get a well-paying job while still in college.

But there is one type of work anyone can do in the comfort of their home to make a decent income. Setting up a blog for income has become easier than ever. There are many low-cost web hosting providers such as Bluehost or SiteGround. There are even free long-term trial accounts at Google Cloud or Amazon (AWS) for setting up a free website.

My only recommendation as you start becoming a blogger is to learn from other authentic and professional bloggers. The free videos on Income School YT channel are a great way to get started with professional blogging.

It may take many months to start generating a blogging income but once you learn the ropes and connect with fellow bloggers, it just gets easier with time!

Since internet marketing is so flexible, you can also easily tailor your blogging work around your college studies and vice-versa. Also, upon enrolling in an affordable online college, be sure to personally connect with fellow students so that you get all the motivation and encouragement for your college studies.

Other Ways to Work and To Do College

If you are able to find a good full time job during college, that can also be a great way to make money while in college. Computer software/ information technology or healthcare are industries where you can get a good job even before you graduate from college.

Then once you get your bachelor’s degree, you can always ask for a promotion or a raise at your current job or find more lucrative job offers elsewhere.

Some Final Words

Though it will take a few years of hard work to complete college while you work, it is all worth it in the end! College graduation brings with it a lot of societal benefits (from family and friends) and financial benefits for building a long-term career.