College students have varying degrees of need financially when they are in school. Some need the highest paying jobs they can get so they can pay their room and board as well as tuition. Other students might be luckier and have less of a financial burden, only needing a job that brings in part of that money and pays for some of their expenses. Finally, there are some students who have their parents paying for everything and they only want a job to pay for clothes, beer, and other things college age kids buy.
So, the best jobs for college students is something that is open for interpretation right from the start. In my experience, jobs that are great are ones where you can get paid for studying. I worked at the university golf driving range and during those cold winter months, there were very few customers. That meant I got paid to sit there and study most of the time during my shifts. Of course there were some things that had to be done there but much of my time could be spent reading and studying. It was almost like forced library time.
Any similar job were there is considerable down time is not going to pay much more than minimum wage most likely. If you need to make more than that then this type of job is not for you. But if you want to kill two birds with one stone, finding a job where you can study for much of your shift and get paid to do it is the ideas college job.
If you are a quiet person, you might look for jobs in the school library and other places that are part of the university. Many if not most of the jobs you see there are held by students like yourself. Travel wise, a job on campus is the best because you don’t waste time and money commuting. Even though jobs at your college are probably not going to be too high paying, you must figure in your savings of not having to drive or take the bus to your job. On campus college jobs are some of the most convenient jobs you can get.
Finding a job in the local town around your university is where many college students look for jobs and there are a few different kinds that can be found. There are usually many eating establishments which need waiters, waitresses, bus boys, and dishwashers. College towns also always have a lot of shops and retail stores that get most of their help from the crop of students looking for jobs. Working in and around your college campus is probably one the easiest options as it would allow you to walk to and from work.
More ambitious students would tell you the best jobs are found off campus. That is where you would have the best chance of getting some kind of job that pays more than just minimum wage. If you have specific job skills, you might be interested in working in your chosen field and getting some experience along with a bigger paycheck. This would take a lot more dedication though, and mean more time away from the college atmosphere and your new college friends.