Think all college students spend their free time doing keg stands and shots of bourbon? Well, for many students, college life is more than late-night study sessions and parties on the weekends. For them, college is a time of life to push the social norm a little bit and volunteer their time for a good cause.

In fact, some students really struggle with studying about people who are suffering rather than actually doing something about it. You get the feeling that you have this detached, textbook-view of learning about the war in Sudan, the cyclone in Burma (Myanmar), or the poverty-stricken families in the neighborhood just next door.

Sometimes, being a student can make you feel worse about studying. But then again, it can also give you a platform to take action. Some schools provide scholarships for students who want to volunteer in their free time – foundations like the Bonner Scholar program pay of portion of your tuition and give you a stipend for extra cash. Or you can join programs like Americorps or Peacecorps, which provide volunteer opportunities for an educational stipend funded by the U.S. government.

And, you can not only feel a little better about giving your free time to someone who really needs it, you can usually use it for a research paper or class presentation. If you’re attending an online college, it opens the door to volunteer travel anywhere in the world. At least, anywhere in the world that you can find Internet.