Saving money in college while paying for college
I wouldn't recommend trying to chase a good return on this money.  I'd just put it into a savings account of some sort.  If you can get a better interest rate with an online account, then feel free to do that.  I'd recommend using this money to pay for as much of college out of pocket as you can.  The more student loans you can avoid, the better. As @John Bensin said, trying to make money in the stock market in such a short time is too risky.  For this money, you want to preserve the principal to pay for school, or to pay down your loans when you get out. If you find you have more money than you need to finish paying for school, then I'd suggest setting some aside for an emergency fund, setting aside enough to pay your loans off when you're out of school, saving for future purchases (house, car, etc), and then start investing (maybe for retirement in a Roth IRA or something like that).
&gt; To get a well paying job requires a degree these days.  Not if you're willing to do some manual labor.  The skilled trades are experiencing a shortage of young workers.  They pay pretty well.  Well enough to save for college.    &gt; Not everyone has the money to pay for college without a loan. Does that mean they shouldn't be able to get a well paying job?  The unfortunate reality of the world is that life, sometimes, isn't fair.  To be fair, I needed student loans to get through school.  I didn't choose to major in art history or underwater basket weaving though.  After a year of majoring in mathematics, I realized the dire economic decision I was making and chose to pursue engineering instead. "&gt; Not all Bachelor's are the same, DeVry...  Of course! A degree in ""gender studies"" is worthless, while a degree in ""computer science"" worth more. But, with so many ""computer science"" degrees, even that degree does not give you much headway... without experience.  It's very simple what happens today, compared to the past.  Today, the idea is to keep kids in schools, for as long as possible (because BAs are worthless and you need Masters), charge them tons of money, pass them so they continue to pay, get them into debt and then pay them less, because so many people have the degrees. Even require BA degree for jobs that don't need it.  In the past, if you finished high school, it was an accomplishment. If you got accepted to college, it was an accomplishment. If you survived the first year in college or got your bachelor degree, it was a major accomplishment.  **If you did not know, those accomplishments in the past gave you substantial(!!!) benefits compared to others.**  It was much cheaper in the past and much better education. They did not care about money, and will kick you out of college for any fail.  So, in the past to be a teller in the bank, you did not need to finish high school, but just be good with basic algebra.  **Today, you need a BA degree and get a lousy salary to be teller in a bank. Do you understand what happened here?**  Also, in the past, a person with lower socioeconomic background, if they finish high school or got a BA, it would (for sure) really change their lives and they become middle or high class.  Today, a person with poor socioeconomic background, even if they got their [worthless] BA degree, they are worst off because they do not have any competitive advantage over other people as all of them have degrees too... you are worst off, because you are in debt to get the degree and the ""education"" you got is bad." Your attitude is great, but be careful to temper your (awesome) ambition with a dose of reality.  Saving is investing is great, the earlier the better, and seeing retirement at a young age with smooth lots of life's troubles; saving is smart and we all know it. But as a college junior, be honest with yourself.  Don't you want to screw around and play with some of that money?  Your first time with real income, don't you want to blow it on a big TV, vacation, or computer? Budget out those items with realistic costs.  See the pros and cons of spending that money keeping in mind the opportunity cost.  For example, when I was in college, getting a new laptop for $2000 (!) was easily more important to me than retirement.  I don't regret that.  I do regret buying my new truck too soon and borrowing money to do it.  These are judgment calls. Here is the classic recipe: Adjust the numbers or businesses to your personal preferences.  I threw out suggestions so you can research them and get an idea of what to compare. And most importantly of all.  DO NOT GET INTO CREDIT CARD DEBT.  Use credit if you wish, but do not carry a balance. I'm not expert here, but a method used by quite a few people I went to school with was to save as much as possible before starting and continue to save as you go. Better explained, if you are able to save a years worth of tuition, or in a better case, save even more, you can pay as you, or in this case your child, attend(s) classes, and continue to add money to that account. If your child can hold down a part-time job during school, as many college students do, they can even help by saving some money into that account, and it can allow them to exit college free and clear of any loans, or at least mostly clear, should you fall a little short.  It's not the best option, but given a short time frame, it can work, and I've seen it work. "I think the answer to this question depends on how much you trust yourself. Most people are wonderful at deceiving themselves. I'd personally not trust myself; I'll use Liam's points for the pitfalls some people get into. You can pay off your loans with summer internships and retain the initial cash you had for additional activities that make college enjoyable, i.e - Fraternity/ Sorority, clubs, dinners, and social nights.  This is actually the risk I've seen many people do. They'll blow their money in one semester under the assumption that 'they'll just earn more in Summer and keep it for expenses or the future."" Another benefit to taking these loans would assist in building credit, No Credit (in the USA) is actually a good standing. Many sensible banks or credit unions will happily give people with No Credit a loan. This makes intuitive sense if you think about it. Imagine two people with the same income. One owes money regularly to multiple sources and the other has no debt obligations. Which one are you loaning money to? Simplifying things a lot: Great Credit is best, followed by No Credit, then Good Credit, and then Bad Credit. The advantage of Great Credit over No Credit is simply that some institutions in some sectors don't have the policies in place to process No Credit people (No Credit people plan to not apply for credit often, for self-explanatory reasons, so this is a mote point)." begin having them take community college courses while they are still in high school - this should be a better use of time than AP courses. if they continue and get an associates degree the credits should be transferrable anywhere take the associates degree to a state school and have them finish just their two years (4 semesters) at the state school. that should be an non-stressful and affordable approach that will give them a time/age-based advantage over their peers. so instead of playing with financial aid and retirement plan rules, this sort of goal can help you save, without creating inconsequential and unnecessary expectations for yourself or your family If the $300 due on a credit card is due at the end of the month and you make 2 payments of $150 during the month, the first half way through the month and the second at the end of the month, then yes you will save on interest. Note, if this is a Credit Card with an interest free period and you are paying the total amount due before the due date, then it will not save you anything by paying part of it earlier. Interest on Credit Card is calculated daily, so if you pay $150 half way through the month then you will pay 2.5% x $150 / 365 days x 15 days = $0.15 less in interest than if you paid the full $300 at the end of the month. The higher the interest rate and the more you pay early the higher the savings will be. You are really showing some wisdom here, and congratulations on finishing college.   Its a lot about likelihoods.  If you buy a new car, there is something like a 99.5% chance you will get a car that will not need repairs.  If you buy a car for $1200 there is probably a 20% chance that the car will only need minimal repairs.  So the answer is there is no real guarantee that spending any amount of money you will end up with a car with no repairs. You also can't assume that with buying a car it will immediately need repairs.  Its possible, that you could spend 1200 on a car and it will need an oil change.  In three months it might need brakes and in 6 months tires.  If that is the case, you could save up the money for repairs. Have you looked for a car?  It will take some work, but you might be able to find something in good condition for your budget.   If you shop for a loan, go with a good credit union or local bank.  Mostly you are looking for a low rate.  However, I would advise against it.  You worked so hard on getting out of school without debt, why start now?   Be weird and buy a car for cash.  Heck someone may be able to loan you a car for a short time while you save some money.