It’s no secret that the cost of living is on the rise across America, which can especially impact college students who already worry about tuition costs with limited time to generate income. One way to deal with living such a pricey life is by “donating” plasma. As it is a relatively quick and easy way to make some extra cash, it is no wonder many people use plasma donation as a form of supplemental income. 

Around the  United States, 180,000 people donate plasma each year. With 600 plasma donation centers currently in operation, this makes for a very large amount of plasma donated every year; in fact, according to World Metrics, the US makes up 45% of the world’s production of plasma. 

Plasma is the portion of the blood that contains proteins and sugars — everything that is not red blood cells. Plasma donation removes the plasma from the blood, and returns the red blood cells (Cleveland Clinic). This plasma is then used in treatments for various diseases.Since plasma cannot be artificially made, getting plasma from “donors” is a large industry.

Eli Stoll, a senior at EMU, donated plasma most recently while the center was running a promotion which paid donors $900 for giving twice a week for a month, and before that for a different promotion. Stoll said he partially stopped donating because “when you’re not on a deal, it’s kind of discouraging, because when you start you’re getting like $80 to $90 for every time you donate, and then it drops down to like $50.” Stoll said, “The first time I heard about [plasma donation] was from my sister. She and her husband paid for a three-month trip to Europe only with plasma money.” Stoll also mentioned that he thought that “there are a lot of people who rely on money from plasma, so I feel like that is a good thing, but I feel it’s problematic that the companies are still profiting so much off of it.”

Hannah Nisly, a first-year at EMU, has been donating plasma once a week since the beginning of the first semester. Nisly said she donates plasma because “I appreciate the money, and I like helping people and contributing to the community.” Nisly had heard about plasma donation from her dad, who also donated in college. Nisly said that when “donating plasma twice a week, you have to majorly change your diet to compensate for that.” Nisly also mentioned that the Biolife center where she donated has regulations to make sure that people’s health is not being negatively affected, but to still be careful not to overdo it. Generally, Nisly said, “I feel cold for about 15 minutes after, but I don’t feel long-term effects,” although she mentioned two instances where the donation did leave some longer-lasting effects, such as nausea and pain in her arms. Noah Buckwalter is a junior at EMU, and said he donated during a promotion where “the first eight times you go, it’s like 100 bucks each time.” Buckwalter heard about plasma donation from his cousin and friends who went, saying “they all highly recommended it.” Buckwalter went to the same location as Nisly and Stoll, the Biolife center in Harrisonburg. Buckwalter also said, “If I didn’t donate plasma, then my plasma just isn’t available for people to have.” Buckwalter felt that being paid for donating plasma was just a good incentive to help people, since without it he likely wouldn’t donate. For plasma donation organizations and companies, college students are seen as young, generally healthy adults, making them great candidates for donation (Plasma campaign toolkit for colleges). And, for college students like Buckwalter, donating plasma feels like “too good of a deal to pass up.”