Business Ideas for College Students

Summary: Going to college is one of the highlights in a young person’s life. It is the stage when the student embarks on higher educational challenges to equip him for his future career and endeavors. However, having a college or university education could be very financially demanding for students.

In the United States, around 70 percent of college students or aspiring ones lack the means to pay for tuition fees and are relying on student loans and scholarships – from the university, the government or private lender – to finish their studies.

However, the onset of financial crisis in the U.S. and worldwide adversely affected the schooling of a number of students. Some entities from which students get their funds have closed down leaving the students with nothing to pay for their education and their living expenses – rent or board, food, clothing, transportation and other expenses. Total costs for college education is approximately $10,000 per year for the first two years and approximately $12,000 per year for the next two years totaling approximately $44,000. Moreover, states are cutting educational funds driving tuition fees up (around 14 percent for public schools and 6 percent for private schools from 2002 to 2004).

The need to get a college education and the rising costs associated with it compel students to look for ways to earn while studying. Working part-time, aside from scholarship, is the best way to counter the harsh climate of college. But getting a part-time job is not very easy because there are limited slots, companies are freezing employment to cut costs not to mention the difficulty in balancing work and studies. And yet, students continue to look for ways to earn and finish college not minding the hard work, challenges and hardships it entails.

It is in this connection that we are publishing 13 articles that are doable, feasible and profitable to help students earn their way through college. These business ideas are easy to operate, fast to put up, and require minimum capitalization. We strongly encourage young individuals specifically college students aspiring to become young entrepreneurs to read our articles on how to start their own businesses on grocery delivery service, mobile canteen (burger, sandwich, sodas, snacks and favorite foods), mobile "essentials" store, laundry pick-up/delivery service, shipping/packing service, “dorm stuff" rentals/sales/pawn/re-sales, student van shuttle service, party-time "gypsy taxi" service, bicycle/moped/scooter service & repair, "finder" of stuff for students, video and game rentals/sales/exchange, low-cost cars/bikes/mopeds/scooters (buy/sell/rent) for campus kids, and paper re-writing/editing service. We are confident that these articles will encourage students to engage in business helping them become self-sufficient and financially able to finish college and reach their dreams in life.