So you’re a college student. You need extra money. And you’re looking for online jobs for college students to make a decent extra income.
If so, you come to the right place!
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The cost of textbooks, supermarket runs, Starbuck coffee, and late-night pizza delivery can add up for college students. Many of whom strive to show some independence by not begging parents for funds.
A campus or community job can be an option to make extra money, but working online gives students the flexibility to adjust his or her schedule to meet nightly study needs.
Moreover, it doesn’t require a car or bus pass, so working at home via a computer comes with no added expense.
However, many online jobs can be scams!
Don’t worry, collegiates! We’ve sifted through the best jobs for college students as well as best summer jobs for college students to help you find the perfect gig to earn some cash without being deceived.
14 legit online jobs for college students to earn money
The list of online jobs for college students to earn money below can give you the flexibility you’re looking for. You can earn $15/hour or even more on the sidelines of your daily activities as a student.
1. Niche Blogger
Income Possibility: varies (average bloggers make $10,000+ per month)
This is where you choose a topic that you have a passion for it and turn it into a blog. You provide high-quality, problem-solving content to your readers and you focus on efforts on becoming an authority and you can make money blogging as so many people do out there.
Whatever your passion, turn it into a blog and you can make money online with different monetization method such as affiliate marketing, ads publishing, sponsored blog post, selling digital products, etc.
Blogging requires a domain name and reliable hosting. Bluehost is an affordable yet reliable web hosting you can choose. They give you a domain name for free (a $15 value) if you decide to use their service.
You can start your first blog with a very low investment (start from $3.95 a month) but it has a very high potential profit.
Useful links:
2. Get Paid from Online Surveys
Income Possibility: $2-$20 per survey
If you have lots of strong opinions and like to share them, completing surveys could be an easy way to make some cash. Sites like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks allow you to turn your thoughts and reviews into gift cards, checks or cash.
Be forewarned that the surveys require a time investment, ranging from 30 minutes to an hour. If you tire of the questions and abandon the survey after partial completion, you will not get paid. Not all participants will qualify for every survey; companies are searching for certain demographics. They consider age, household income, buying habits, and other factors.
Some payouts per survey are skimpy, paying only a few dollars. However, some pay as much as $50 or even $150. Some dedicated survey-takers confess to raking in more than $300 a month from surveys.
Related: The 2 Best Online Survey Sites That Actually Pay You in Cash!
3. Flip Items from Flea Markets and Thrift Shops
Income Possibility: $100-$300 with a budget of $20-$50
Vintage is in. Many fashionistas are looking to buy quality but gently used branded clothes from the past seasons. They hit up resale hubs like thrift stores, church bazaars, flea markets, yard sales, and even garage sales. They are not the only ones looking to save a buck by turning to nontraditional sellers.
Those looking to find discounts on the costs of electronics, CDs, DVDs, home decor and other products browse second-hand stores as well. The demand for flipped items is so high, that websites like Poshmark and ThredUP have taken the concept online.
So, clean out your closets and search for gently used items at Goodwill, The Salvation Army or a local store with reduced prices. Then, make an account with one of these post-retail sites. Amazon, eBay, and other stores also allow regular people to become sellers of either their own formerly used things or things they buy and want to re-sell.
Rob from the Flea Market Flipper made over $130,000 from this flipping business. He created a free workshop of how to make money reselling items from thrift stores, garage sales, & flea markets on eBay. Click here to sign up!
4. Audio/Video Transcription
Income Possibility: $1-$2 per audio minute
When you want to relay gossip to your friends, are you be able to retell what you heard verbatim? Your keen listening skills and accuracy might help you make some money as a transcriptionist or caption writer.
All you have to do is just listening to the audio or video and then type exactly what you hear.
Your work can help those that are hearing- impaired or who are learning English as a second language, watch movies and consume other forms of entertainment by using closed captioning. This could be more than a job for you; it can be a noble, social mission.
You can apply to companies like Rev, TranscribeMe, or FlexJobs. They pay per audio minute, with many workers bringing in $ 2.00 per minute. While somewhat time-consuming, this can be one of the summer jobs for college students.
Others Useful Links
5. Online Tutoring
Income Possibility: $14-$20+ per hour
If you are an ace in statistics, chemistry or English, turn your skills into profits by becoming an online tutor. You might end up helping some of your classmates. Students at all grade levels from the primary grades to master’s level studies are looking for tutors to help them with homework, college admissions tests, course exams, essays, or regular problem-solving in a range of classes.
Perhaps you already find yourself helping friends after class and using your tutoring skills for free. Now, you can get paid, helping others with video chats, text chats, or online audio calls. Some sites require you to post answers in the form of Q&A articles that can be read by anyone. Many sites allow you to set your own rates.
A popular tutoring site is Course Hero, where workers provide help with calculus, history, physics, economics and a host of other specialized subjects.
Paying $20 per hour, Chegg is another site that hires college students as tutors. Here the users post requests day or night. You read the requests and then answer the questions. You can even talk live to users in an online classroom.
Others Useful Links
6. Editor and Proofreader
Income Possibility: $10-$45+ per hour
An eye for error and a reverence for perfection and protocol are what you’ll need to earn money as an editor or proofreader. It might also help if you like thumbing through grammar books for fun and reading the latest copy of the MLA style manual.
You know you’re a natural editor if you are the one who corrects the misused words and nonstandard English of your acquaintances on a regular basis. Why not get paid for doing that for writers who desperately need help in polishing their copy?
The trusted companies who are hiring proofreaders and editors are Gramlee and Scribendi. They pay up to $25 an hour to edit works such as newsletters, books, and also academic papers.
Others Useful Links
7. Virtual Assistant
Income Possibility: $15-$200+ per hour
This type of secretary doesn’t need to sit at a desk in an office, but you will need to answer phones, provide data entry, handle customer complaints, manage social media, arrange appointments and do any little chore your boss might ask. That could include booking an airline flight or scheduling a business lunch.
Today, bosses prefer to hire a virtual assistant for convenience and to save money. Pitch yourself as a virtual assistant to doctor’s offices and business owners through companies such as Upwork, Fiverr or Freelance My Way. The salary is negotiated based on your skill level. Many virtual assistants earn more than $15 an hour.
Others Useful Links
8. Social Media Manager
Income Possibility: $15-$40+ per hour
This job is for the outgoing, creative chatterboxes who think of fun quips and viral responses to the latest social media trends and conversations. Your wit and instinct for memes could help you define a brand. Help a company with its social media presence and get paid in return.
You’ll have to be willing to use videos, pictures, words and natural humor to publicize company deeds, products, services, philosophy, and even marketing materials by making them entertaining and worth sharing.
You will have to find a way to connect what the company is doing to the latest things people care about. You might even have to respond to complaints you find on Facebook or Instagram to help guard the company’s reputation.
Up for the job? Try places like Indeed, Upwork or Glassdoor to find the latest job listings. This gig could get you $16 an hour or more as a part-time worker. Full-time professionals earn more competitive salaries of more than $45,000 per year.
Others Useful Links
9. Products, Websites and App Testing
Income Possibility: $10-$60 per hour
Explore new products, websites or app before they reach the market by becoming a tester who evaluates quality and performance. Think of yourself as an advocate for the consumer. Work with creations while they are still in the beta state.
Use your opinions to make sure things are safe, effective, durable and user-friendly before they launch to the public. You will point out any flaws and areas for improvement. You may even get to keep some of the products and software for your own continued use.
Products could range from software, mobile app, websites, plugins, scripts, and many more. Work alone or as part of a focus group. You may apply for testing jobs to companies such as Loop11 and UserFeel.
Others Useful Links
10. Freelance Writing
Income Possibility: $50-$500+ per article
Have you been told in your life that you have special writing talent? If writing persuasively or distilling difficult information into a fun and easy-to-understand articles comes naturally to you, you could make extra money as a freelance writer.
Good grammar skills, writing on deadline, accurate spelling and the ability to revise or proofread are also necessary. So, grab grammar book and a dictionary on your desk, and get to applying. Head to jobs sites like Freelancer or Pro Blogger Job Board to find online jobs for college students as a freelance writer.
Others Useful Links
11. Participating in Research Studies
Income Possibility: $10-$25+ per hour
Getting paid while helping researchers make helpful discoveries?
Well, you can join in paid research studies.
There are so many universities that willing to pay people, including students and ordinary people to participate in various research studies and surveys. So, if you’re looking for part-time jobs to make a pretty decent extra income, you can join with one of these universities that offer paid research studies.
Keep in mind that this job just like paid focus groups, some of these research studies are done personally – so, it would be better you live near the universities or the research lab.
Fortunately, some of these universities also have online research studies. So, you can participate from your home!
The amount of money you’ll earn will vary depending on the difficulty level and universities policy.
You might not be eligible for every study. Some studies require participant from certain demographics like age group or gender. But don’t worry, there are so many studies available and you’ll find a suitable one. For me, this is one of the best jobs for college students.
Check out these universities and start making extra money!
- Northwestern University Department of Psychology
- Center for Decision Sciences Columbia Business School
- Purdue University
- UCLA Anderson School of Management
- Harvard University Psychology Study Pool
- Stanford Graduate School of Business
- Harvard Business School
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Boston University Behavioral Lab
12. Data Entry
Income Possibility: $10-$17 per hour
You likely already find yourself pecking away on your keyboard all day, surfing the Internet and texting to friends on your laptop, tablet or computer.
So, it’s time for you to turn those typing habits into a data entry job. These jobs require workers to enter content from paper documents into computer databases, spreadsheets or simple word processing files.
Sometimes you’ll have to use special color-coded keyboards but the transition is fairly easy. Flexjobs is where many data entry workers find starting positions. SigTrack, Upwork, and Microworkers are the other sites that can connect you with data entry jobs. You may earn from $14 to $30 per hour.
Others Useful Links
13. Graphic Designer
Income Possibility: $25-$50 per hour
If aesthetics are your passion and you have graphic design skills, you can make great money as a graphic designer. Think about it. Authors need book covers, organizations need posters and brochures, clothing industries need creative designers, websites need logos, memes, and headers, etc.
In a nutshell, humans are visual creatures.
The opportunities are endless for someone who can draw and mastering graphic software like Photoshop or Illustrator. Sell your work on Fiverr or your own website where you can make considerably more.
Others Useful Links
14. Resume Writer
Income Possibility: $50-$75 per resume / $10-$25 per hour
Becoming a resume writer could help others find their first job, next job, or even their dream job. This job is for someone who can write concise and compelling summaries of work experience or professional goals.
Resumes offer the first impression of many job applicants. So you will need to be good at composing someone’s achievement, work experience, and skill set neatly. Nevertheless, you have to pay attention to your client’s requests and instructions.
Others Useful Links
- Rise Smart
- Talent Inc.
- Impact Group
- The National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA)
- Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW)
- Contena
- Upwork
Final Words
If one of these jobs sounds like calling you out, polish off your own resume and fill out an application with one of the companies above. You can also do your own research on LinkedIn or other social media platform where many students network and community share the latest online jobs for college students.
It doesn’t matter if you have no experience at all. As long as you have a special skill and you’re confident, you can make some cash online.
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