With the economy in a tank, and the price of higher education increasing every year, it’s no surprise that college kids are increasingly looking for creative financing solutions. We’re not talking the old “sell your blood for beer money” route, which now seems almost retro. Why stick with selling blood (or plasma), when there’s good money to be made from other body parts not currently in use but which are, conveniently enough, at their prime during the college years?

Guys, naturally, tend to think of selling sperm for college money as a win-win-win situation. Haven’t we all seen that episode of Friends when Joey, strapped for cash, decides to sell his “swimmers” for funds? Of course, there are all sorts of jokes to be made about the situation (Do you bring your own DVDs? Is it a faux pas to look the nurse in the eye afterwards?). But the fact is, there’s a selflessness to such donations, too, as they help make someone else’s dream of being a parent come true.

The same could be said for young women choosing to become a frozen egg donor. Unlike the male experience, there’s more of a commitment required. Preparing the female body to release eggs involves medical testing for both communicable- and genetically-inherited disease. Once cleared, egg donors also receive a series of fertility drugs, some via injection, to ensure ova release.

Of course, potential donors need to consider the long-term impact of donation on their lives. How will they feel years down the road when they become parents, knowing there are one (or more) children in the world who are their own kids’ genetic siblings? What if, years down the road, they encounter infertility problems of their own? Will they feel resentful of the donation process, or grateful that they, too, can avail themselves of it? For this reason, would-be donors are routinely given psychiatric evaluations to determine their understanding and ability to comprehend the moral, ethical and physical aspects of donation.

Despite the repeated steps involved, clinics are typically eager for egg donors who have some higher education, and only too grateful to work around college schedules to obtain healthy, viable eggs. The payoff? At least $6,000 for a first-time egg donation. Many donors find the process both unintrusive and lucrative, and go on to second- and third-time donations with correspondingly higher compensation each time. Even without repeated donations an egg donor can earn additional money by referring female friends who are also willing to donate their eggs to help infertile couples.

For female college students mature enough to handle such things, egg donation may very well be the best route to financing a debt-free education, while giving someone the gift of a future family.