Back in my day, paying for college meant babysitting or working as a waitress, and yes, applying to every scholarship/grant in existence. But kids these days, boy, are they getting creative when it comes to saving up funds to pay for education!

Tuition costs are up, reports SmartMoney.com, and the amount of financial aid available is down. So what’s a college co-ed to do? For some flipping burgers or working at the union isn’t bringing in enough dough, so they’re turning to alternative means of fundraising. The good news is, 72% of high school students heading off to college think it’s their responsibility to help pay for college, according to a January survey by the College Savings Foundation.

Some of the ways they’re making money include:

• Working for others with organizations like AmeriCorps while in school to earn scholarships.

• Keeping an open mind and trying literally anything that shows up on the campus job boards, from sleep studies to catering gigs.

• Starting a business from scratch, like one woman who runs a successful wedding supplies website to pay for her text books, or a guy who earns around $100 a week by driving drunkards home in their won cars, so they won’t be ticketed or towed overnight.

• Selling eggs or sperm — yes, some students are investing time in visiting sperm banks or selling their eggs to women with fertility problems. Super invasive, but it does pay well, at anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 per healthy egg donated.

• Begging for help with websites like twohundredthou.com, a blog one woman started to ask for donations to pay off her — you guessed it! — $200K debt.

Did you do anything out-of-the box to pay your way through school?

5 Weird Ways to Pay for College [SmartMoney.com]

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