It’s a well-known fact: college is expensive.
But what if there were some things that you could do to earn money while in college?
Luckily – there are tons!
If you’re a student in college and are looking to make some extra cash, this article is perfect for you.
We will look at the best online jobs for students to earn money, that you can do if you want to work from home.
Table of Contents
15 Legit Online Jobs for College Students To Earn Money
There are a lot of online jobs out there – but there are some which are excellent for students, as they offer a lot of flexibility.
You could try them out as a side hustle at first and scale them up.
Online Tutor
Expected Pay: $20+ per hour
Description
This is a great way to earn money as a student because you have all of the knowledge still fresh in your mind!
You could tutor in the area of your current learning, or you could look at other areas that you may be good at, such as sports or music. It all depends on your skills!
How to Get Started
One of the best ways to get started is with word of mouth. Let people know that you are interested in doing tutoring – friends and family.
You could also advertise on social media – Facebook groups are great for this.
Some online sites that you can get online tutoring jobs include:
Lead Generation Business (Facebook Side Hustle)
Expected Pay: $1000+ per customer
Description
This is one of the hottest online business ideas out there right now because the money is great!
You know when you are scrolling through Facebook, and you see ads on there?
The ads aren’t just thrown up on there – they are tailored to you through a Facebook ad campaign.
There are lots of businesses out there that can benefit from Facebook ads, but don’t know how to do it. This is where you come in!
How to Get Started
There are some Facebook ad courses out there that will give you the knowledge of how to do them.
We personally love the one run by Bobby Hoyt called Facebook Side Hustle.
The course will also help you get your first clients with the advice available.
Start a Money Making Blog
Expected Pay $1000-$100,000 (varies!)
Description
We are big fans of setting up a money-making blog because that’s what we’ve done! And we are blown away by the results that we have been able to get.
Blogging is where you will have a website that you will share information on, for your readers.
The ways that you can make money from a blog are typical:
- Ads (the kind you’d see on websites you usually visit)
- Affiliate marketing (where you recommend people to products or services and receive a commission for doing so)
- Sponsored posts (where a company will pay you to write about them)
- Products or services (e.g. coaching, printables, etc)
How to Get Started
To get started with setting up a blog, we recommend having a read through our start a blog guide.
It’s pretty easy to get set up, but you will want to have a good think about the topic that you want to write about.
Not all blog niches will make money – if you want to make money, your best bet is to go with a niche in one of these categories: health, wealth or relationships.
It’s all too easy to get started without a plan either – so we would 100% recommend working out a business plan and monetization strategy before setting everything up. It will help you so much!
Think about what you are going to write about and how you are going to make money from it. It sounds simple, but it’s a step that many people miss.
Survey Taker
Expected Pay $2 – $25 per hour
Description
This is one of the easiest online jobs for students on this list and is super flexible.
If you don’t want to commit a lot of time and energy to your cash building efforts, this is a good one for you.
This is also a good one for you if you are a bit unsure about making money online and want to tip your toes in first.
You will be answering questions and giving your opinion in exchange for cash. It’s not a massive earner, but a good place to start.
How to Get Started
There are a bunch of paid online survey sites out there, but it’s important to get the legit, and best paying ones.
Some sites will let you earn money in other ways, such as watching videos or playing games.
Our favorite survey sites include:
Search Engine Evaluator
Expected Pay $12 – $15 per hour
Description
A search engine evaluator is someone who will look at search engines (such as Google) and check that everything is running smoothly. It’s a job for online researchers.
You can also evaluate social media adverts for their relevance. This is a great way to find free online jobs for students without investment.
How to Get Started
The best sites for finding search engine evaluator jobs include:
Social Media Manager
Expected Pay $20 – $40 per hour
Description
With all of the online businesses out there, many need help with their social media accounts.
There is a lot that goes into running an online business, and it can be hard for all of the owners to keep up with their social media accounts.
This is where you can come in!
Love social media? Any good at designing graphics for it? (If not, it’s easy enough to learn!).
The role would vary from company to company, but you would typically be managing various social media accounts.
This could be content planning and strategizing, creating the graphics, uploading the graphics, marketing tactics, replying to messages, etc.
How to Get Started
To get started with social media management work, you can reach out to local businesses and see if they would be interested.
Another great place to find work is within Facebook groups that are relevant to the industry you want to work in.
Freelance Writer
Expected Pay $50 – $500+ per article
Description
If you like the idea of being a writer but don’t want to start up a blog right now, then freelance writing can be a great option.
There are plenty of places that you can do writing for, but it does help to pick a subject that you enjoy, especially if you are going to be doing a lot of writing!
How to Get Started
You don’t need to have any experience or credentials to be a freelance writer.
This can be a good online job if you’re a student because it’s very flexible. Don’t forget that you will have deadlines though!
If you are serious about doing this, we highly recommend Holly Johnson’s freelance writing course – she earns over 6 figures writing and shares all of her tips.
You could set up your own website to showcase your work and perhaps do some guest posts to get your portfolio up.
It’s possible to do it all for free and not have to set anything up though – look for work in relevant Facebook groups for clients.
Proofreader
Expected Pay $10 – $40 per hour
Description
We’ve talked about freelance writing, but is that the final step in the content creating process? Nope!
Proofreaders are often hired to check over written content for grammatical errors.
It is something that you can learn, but if you are someone who naturally spots errors (like me!), then this will come much easier to you.
How to Get Started
You could add this on as an additional service to other jobs that you do, such as social media management. Looking for online jobs no experience? Proofreading is a good one for you.
There is a proofreading course available that can get you started – Proofreading Anywhere. We highly recommend it!
You will want to look at sites where these jobs get posted often, such as Fiverr.
Website Designer
Expected Pay $3000+ per customer
Description
This is a role that can earn you a lot of money because it is quite specialized.
Don’t let that put you off though – as it is something that you can put the time into and learn the skills.
Website designers are people who design whole websites for businesses. It will be the technical side of things, but also the design side of things as well. You’ll be wearing many hats!
How to Get Started
You’re going to want to get in a bit of practice before you start to offer your services.
There will be people trusting you with creating them a website that looks good and runs well. As someone who owns a website, I know how much work goes into it!
You will need to put together a website of your own before getting started, so people can see what you are able to do.
Start with contacting local businesses who don’t have a website and explain why they should have one.
Graphics Designer
Expected Pay $25 – $50+ per hour
Description
A graphics designer is someone who creates graphics for other businesses.
There are graphic design courses out there, but if you have a good eye, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do it without a degree.
How to Get Started
This is something that you could offer as part of a Social Media Management job, but it is great as a stand-alone job as well.
It’s definitely a good idea to practice as much as you can and look around for ideas of what people like and is popular.
Choose what kind of thing you would like to specialize in – is it business cards, social media graphics, website graphics, printables, etc?
Look for work in Facebook groups, and on job sites such as Upwork or Freelancer.
Data Entry
Expected Pay $13.84 (average wage of a data entry clerk)
Description
Data entry is where you are entering data – usually on the computer, and most likely into spreadsheets.
It’s one of the more mundane tasks out there – but that’s why a lot of companies want to delegate it.
You will need to have some basic computer skills, and some companies may ask that you are able to type to a certain speed. After all, the faster you type, the quicker you’ll be finished!
How to Get Started
We recommend looking at job sites for data entry jobs. There are some which are specifically for that kind of role, and then there are general job sites which often have data entry roles.
Some sites that we love for data entry jobs include:
Resume Writer
Expected Pay $50 – $75 per resume
Description
Have you ever looked at your resume when applying for a job and thought it needed some work?
A resume is really important when it comes to landing your dream job, and you may need a little help getting it up to standard.
Luckily, this is a service that is out there, and one that you can do to earn some extra money.
You would be writing or editing resumes to get them up to a high standard.
How to Get Started
This is something that would be perfect to do in a more casual way to start out with.
Ask around your friends and family to see if this is a service that they would be interested in.
You could also look for work on sites such as Upwork or Freelancer.
Virtual Assistant
Expected Pay $15+ per hour
Description
A Virtual Assistant is a role where you will be an assistant to someone…virtually. Meaning, you can work remotely and don’t have to be in an office with your boss.
The tasks that you do will vary depending on what the company wants you to do, but it will probably be things such as:
- Answering emails
- Creating social media graphics
- Booking appointments
- Sending out newsletters
- Scheduling on social media
How to Get Started
There are plenty of businesses out there that can benefit from a virtual assistant, so you are spoilt for choice!
There are lots of bloggers who need virtual assistant services, so if you wanted to target them, that would be a good idea.
To find bloggers that you could work for, hang out in relevant Facebook groups, provide value, and let people know that you are available.
You can also look for jobs on-site such as Upwork.
Micro Freelancer on Fiverr
Expected Pay $5+ per job
Description
Fiverr is a site where you can offer a wide range of services, depending on what you are good at.
Examples of services that you could offer on there include things like:
- Video editing
- Writing
- Graphic design
- Drawing
- Editing
- Web design
There are also lots of unusual jobs offered on there, that you could do if you don’t have a skilled area of expertise.
How to Get Started
Sign up on Fiverr, and have a look at the things that other people are offering on there. There is so much diversity on there, there’s bound to be something that you can do!
It isn’t just $5 that you earn on there – this is the starting point. You offer upsells and can get a lot more money than just $5!
Become an Online Influencer
Expected Pay $1000+
Description
There has never been a better time than now to start your own business.
We are incredibly lucky that we have the internet at our fingertips, and can start doing anything online.
One of the most popular online jobs for students is to become an online influencer.
An online influencer is someone who has an online presence – usually on social media – and influences someone to purchase things in a particular area.
Examples of this could be fashion, beauty, home decor and more.
How to Get Started
You will need to have a think about what you are truly interested in and passionate about.
You will have to be talking about it and posting about the subject every day, so it will help if you love it.
Come up with a name, branding, a monetization strategy (do you want to recommend other products, or create your own?) and set up social media accounts.
There Are Many Online Jobs for Students That Require No Experience
Hopefully, you will see from this article, that there are lots of online jobs for college students with no experience needed.
Have a look at the ones that interest you and give them a go!
These jobs are also great if you are a stay at home mom – and especially if you are a mom that is going to school. There’s lots of flexibility with these jobs.
