photo credit: Panoramas
For a lot of people, studying abroad is the most significant experience in 4 (or more!) years of college. Unfortunately, it’s gotten more expensive than ever, and a lot of us don’t have the means to pay for it without some extra help. I’ve been helping one of my younger cousins get ready for a year abroad, so I’ve come across a TON of resources to help you pay for it.
Paying for Study Abroad -
Remember that no single source is likely to pay the whole bill. In addition to the “usual” stuff like an extra job or selling off stuff you don’t need, I would recommend a combination of contests, scholarships, and online work for several sites. Just set aside 20 minutes here and there and you’ll be getting extra checks in no time.
Scholarships -There are a lot of private scholarships you can try for in addition to your school’s scholarships.
Scholarship Link: This site offers a search for scholarships, along with a $100,000 scholarship of their own that you can apply to your studies anywhere.
Winning Surveys Scholarship - This site lets you participate in some quick surveys for a shot at a $50,000 scholarship. This one’s a little different because the company is learning about consumer behavior and they can sell that data and give away part of the profits as a scholarship - pretty cool business model 
Make Money Online - There are a ton of “maybe” ways to make money online, so I’m only including those methods that pay for your work or activity - not those which promise untold profits (that only 1% of users will ever achieve). You won’t get rich with most of these sites, but they can be solid ways to earn a bit here and there.
Swagbucks - This site lets you earn cash, prizes, or gift cards for simple stuff like using their search engine, shopping with their partners, and referring friends. Even if you only use it a few times, the sign-on bonus should be enough to get you up to 1 or 2 $5 Amazon cards in almost no time at all.
Associated Content - I have’t used this site a ton, but I know people who have earned hundreds or thousands of dollars with it. As for me, I wrote around a dozen short little articles a while back when I had some free time and I’ve gotten about $85 from it. The way it works is that you get paid up front, then you get paid again each month based on the number of pageviews. Hint: If you want to maximize how much money you make, use this Google Keyword Tool to figure out what people are actually searching for and then use those words in your articles. The key here is to write a lot quickly and then watch the residual income keep coming each month.
Sponsored Tweets - If you use Twitter and have at least a couple hundred followers, this can be a great way to pick up a bit of extra cash. The only downside is that the minimum payout is $50 and that can take a little while to reach if you don’t have a ton of followers.
Ad.ly - This is another sponsored tweet site, so if you’re doing one, you might as well do both.
Epinions - This site pays you based on the ratings of your reviews and the number of views that you get. I’ve written around a dozen reviews here and I’ve earned a few checks from them, so it’s definitely worthwhile to sit down by your bookshelf or DVD case and just start reviewing everything you see.
Contests - It’s actually kind of amazing what you can win online. Web contests - especially the ones on small blogs - are often far less competitive because not as many participate. I’ve personally won a $50 Wal-Mart card, a $50 check, and all kinds of random small things like candy and a Police CD set.
Remember it’s not just about cash - you can always sell or re-gift your winnings!
Prompted to Write - Yes, I’m including myself first. Every month, I give away 2 Amazon gift cards. One goes to a random member of my email list (sign up at the top right of the page for free writing prompts to your email) and another goes to the top voted writing prompt response submitted during the month.
Blog Contest Site - This site offers regular updates on where to find good blog contests.
A Contest Blog - Another blog contest site, but this one offers automatic listing so it may be updated more regularly/quickly than some other sites.
Slickdeals Contest Forum - This site is way more populated than most, so the contests here are usually a little more competitive. That said, I did win some kind of Superman kryptonite putty from a contest here once.
———————————————-
I’ll be adding more ideas as I come across them, but hopefully this will prove helpful to someone saving up for a trip abroad or even just trying to make ends meet at home.
