Struggling to find an online job while in college? Forget about working in retail or working at the local bar dealing with drunk customers. There are plenty of online jobs for college students.
Having an online job while you’re a student in college is not only a great way to boost your resume, but it’s also an awesome way to make extra money. But finding a job that can fit around your school schedules can be difficult.
But don’t worry just yet. To help you earn money online without jeopardizing your school work, we have come up with 8 best online jobs for college students that are flexible work.
One side note: Before you start applying or undertaking these online jobs, there are two things you need. A computer (laptop or desktop) and a high speed internet. These are essentials. Some of these online jobs require no experience.
Other online jobs might even require a noise-cancelling headsets for those jobs that require telephone work. So make sure you take these into consideration.
8+ Legit Online Jobs for College Students

1. Online tutor
Pay: $20-30/hour or more
If there is a subject that you’re very confident in, why not becoming an online tutor!? Not only will it look good on your resume, you will make some decent cash on the side.
Indeed, parents will pay good money to help their child get a decent grade. The exact amount will vary depending on the subject matter, but we’re talking at least $30 to $50 an hour
Perhaps you’re fluent in Spanish? Does math comes easily to you? If you really know your stuff, then use your skills to make money online as a tutor.
So private tutoring is one of the best online jobs for college students to make good money.
There are several online sites designed for private tutors to be matched with potential students. One of them is Upwork.
How to get started: Udemy and Skillshare allows you to create an online course and get paid forever after as users take it up.
Tutor.com is also a great platform to get started with online jobs for students.
Here are some online tutor jobs for you to explore.
2. Blogger
Pay: varies
Some online jobs require you to commit to a certain work schedule. For example, if a company hires you to manage their social media presence, they may set the schedule for you.
But when you’re a blogger, you make your own hours. This is important for college students as you’re able to control when to stop working when exam season comes around.
It’s the best way to make money while you sleep and the sky is the limit on how much money you can make. Some bloggers report making $3,000 a month; some making $100,000 + a month. But you need a website.
Starting a blog with Bluehost takes less than 20 minutes. It’s so easy that a 70 year-old can do it. It takes some upfront work at first writing quality contents to get good traffic.
How to get started: Right now you can start a blog with Bluehost for as low as $3.95 a month.
If you’re interested in starting a blog that makes money fast, I created a step-by-step guide that will help you start a blog of your own for cheap, starting at only $3.95 per month (this low price is only through my link) for blog hosting. In addition to this low price, you will receive a free blog domain (a $15 value through my Bluehost link if you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting.
Focus on a particular niche, but a niche that is profitable. And the rewards can be significant.
3. Survey Taker
Pay: $1 to $3 per survey. Survey completion time: 5 to 20 minutes. You can make $30 an hour completing 10 surveys.
While you will not be rich completing surveys online, they are very popular online jobs for college students to make quick cash.
One survey company that is worth your time and effort is Survey Junkie. Survey Junkie is an online community and survey company that provides feedback to companies. Basically, you just get paid for your opinions. Your input will then be used to improve products sold to consumers.
If you have a lot of opinions, simply share them at Survey Junkie.
Another one is Swagbucks. Not only can you complete surveys and get paid, but you’ll also get paid by watching movies, playing video games, or surfing the web.
4. Freelance Writer

Pay: varies; $50 – $100+ per article
A freelance writer is just like being a blogger. The only difference is that you write for companies. It’s one of the best online jobs for college students, because it’s flexible work. You can do it from home, you can be travelling around the world, while making money online at the same time. All you need is a laptop and good research and writing skills. You can work in a variety of topics as well.
How to get started: here are some sites that pay you up to $100 to write one article:
1) Listverse: $100
2) WorldStart: up to $50
3) The Motley Fool: $50 to $100
4) WPHub: up to $200 depending on topic and length
5) Travel China Guide: $200 to $500
6) Semaphore: $100 to $200
7) ProfitBricks: $200
8) Great Escape Publishing: $200
9) Linode: $250
5) Virtual assistant.
Pay: varies; $12 to $20
Just like being a freelance writer, a virtual assistant is one of those online jobs where you can do at the comfort of your own dorm room. Virtual assistants provide administrative services.
Your responsibilities will include making phone calls, arrange meetings, scheduling, invoicing, paying bills, coordinate appointments, etc.
6) Web designer
Pay: varies; $199 to $1500+
If you’re an art major or if you have a major in design, you can put your creative skills to work by designing logos and websites for small businesses. You can work directly for a company, but you can join DesignCrowd or 99designs if you want a more flexible schedule.
DesignCrowd and 99designs connect people/small businesses who are looking for logos, website design, or facebook page to designers.
A web designer is one of the best online jobs any college students with a background in design can do. And it pays very well.
7) Social media manager
Pay: varies;
Companies usually need help maintaining their presence via social media. And depending on the companies you work for, the pay can be significant.
Your duties will be posting or promoting the companies’ products or services in various social media platforms and responding to replies.
8. ESL Instructor/Tutor
Pay: $16 to $24 an hour
There are several online jobs for college students, especially Native English Speakers, to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to international students. Indeed.com has a list of these online jobs. Depending on the job, you may commit to a weekly schedule.
Here are some current ESL jobs.
In conclusion, there exists plenty of online jobs for college students. The key is the find the right ones. Those online jobs mentioned above, while they won’t make you rich, they are great ways to make extra cash. Some of them are also resume boosters. So take advantage of these online jobs for college students.
In addition to these online jobs mentioned above, there hundreds out there. A quick google search will reveal plenty.
But one word of caution, beware of scams. As with any online jobs, do your due diligence to know if they are legit or not.
Here is a list of some current online jobs for college students to explore.
Good luck in getting your online jobs to make extra income!
I wish I was a blogger back when I was in school. Would have been an exciting way to make extra money while going to school!
Yep, I agree. Same here. In college, I was more interested in booze and girls; never took personal finance seriously.