Hi Joe1268,
I thought I would toss in my advice as I am a senior in college so I have some experience on the matter. When I was a freshman I came in with way too much money I had earned in high school and had extremely poor spending habits. I wish I had found MMM and this forum years ago.
I agree with the other posts here that suggest your amount in question (5.5K) is not going to earn enough or be enough to pay off your student loans by the time you graduate. You will want to use your starting salary to focus in on paying that down. However, I think that your 5.5k could be a good start in investing and understanding mutual funds and some other long-term investments. I started investing in high school with about that amount and have found slow but strong success.
I would suggest focusing on your expenses and how you can optimize your time as a college student. This behaviour is so important to develop now because it only gets more difficult as you head into the 'real' world. The largest expenses I have faced in college are:
1) Food
2) Fun
3) Fucking
Food:
I came into college as a gluttonous shit and spent many years living this lifestyle. I advise to not get addicted to lazy college lifestyle of pizza, delivery, and frequent restaurant eating. It appears to be fun, but it slowly drains your motivation in other sections of life. I love cooking now and find it one of the most enjoyable tasks available. There is so much to learn and people always love a good cook. A very valuable life lesson to take up before your peers realize they fucked up.
Fun:
College is about education and getting a job blah blah blah. However, we know the reality that college is an extremely fun period of your life and often our lifestyles reflect that "fun".I do not want to assume, but you will probably partake in drinking alcohol and maybe even partake in occasional drug use. I know I have had my fair share of fun. However, be aware that this "fun" is detrimental to your health and is often a slippery slope. I have friends who drink or smoke every day and they run up their fair share of $$ on this fun. My words of wisdom on this are to be mindful of what fun means to you and do most things like this in moderation. Your body and mind will thank you. I enjoy most of my fun now through running, going to the gym, being outdoors, but I still socialize and drink with friends. Try to find friends in categories of healthy fun that will push you to be the best version of yourself.
Fucking:
I really just used fucking because all three words began with F lol. However, I think there is an important lesson behind the word. College relationships. Whatever your sexual preferences may be, you may find yourself meeting the girl/boy of your dreams at college. It is a wonderful place full of intelligent, driven people who are experiencing much of the same emotions as you. I have a wonderful girlfriend who I have been dating for close to two years now. However, if there was one piece of advice I could give myself before dating it is to understand that relationships can be financial burdens if you let them. The money starts to quickly add up between trips to the movie theatre, going out to eat, and general spending. I think it is very important to have a discussion early on in the relationship about how you want that dynamic to work. This discussion requires much less tough love early on in the relationship. It doesn't mean you have to be a cheapass or never spoil your SO, but understand what the important gifts mean to your SO. I know my girlfriend and I are not big fans of actual gifts, but quality time is the best gift we can give each other. This will differ amongst relationships but understanding this will allow you to get to the important parts of the relationship.
Sorry that this is not dedicated towards answering your financial questions, but that is the easy stuff! I hope some of this information you find useful and if you have any more questions (financial or nonfinancial) I would be glad to help.
Best