When you’re a student, you only need a few basic things: food, sleep, studies – and money. Given the fact that your college years are spent largely focused on the first three major necessities, it’s often very difficult to make money while in school. Lectures, libraries, and cafeteria lasagna (the three “L’s”) consume the best hours of your life for nearly half of of a decade.
However, the cost of not having money available for college may mean student debt, poor housing, or even lost social opportunities with friends and colleagues. You may need money for tuition, books, or as a fun fund to help balance your heavy school workload. But how do you find time to be a student and make money?
The answer is relatively simple: you need a side hustle. Meaning, you need to find a way to make money on the side of all your regular college activities.
The 9 Best Online Side Hustles for College Students
Side hustles come in all shapes and sizes. They can be deliberately planned out activities or simple cash grabs (like ‘charges’ you add to your roommates tab to pick up food for them on the weekend). But to make the most of your college experience you’ll need a side hustle that’s flexible, has a low time commitment, and has a high return (makes you the most money for your time and energy).
Enter, online side hustling. Online side hustling is finding a way to make money online – from the comfort of your dorm room, the library, or wherever else on campus has a strong enough wifi signal. The perks to side hustling online are that you can pick up opportunities based on your own schedule, and you can experiment with different ideas at relatively low costs. Meaning, you don’t have to start your own brick-and-mortar business to make some extra cash. If you tried a side hustle that didn’t work out, you can simply switch to another.
So, where exactly should you begin?
To start, you can begin with the table below to see what side hustles are of most interest to you. If any particular opportunities are in your wheelhouse, start there. If one sets you up for better future success in your line of work, start there. The important thing is simply to begin!
| Rank | Side Hustle | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 1 | Freelance: Writing | $30.00 | $360.00 | $1,440.00 | $17,280.00 | Medium |
| 2 | Website Tester | $26.00 | $348.00 | $1,392.00 | $16,704.00 | Low |
| 3 | Online Surveys | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low |
| 4 | Tutoring | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low to High |
| 5 | Freelance: Graphic Design | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low to High |
| 6 | Translator | $21.00 | $252.00 | $1,008.00 | $12,096.00 | Medium |
| 7 | Virtual assistant | $20.00 | $240.00 | $960.00 | $11,520.00 | Medium |
| 8 | Blog | $18.00 | $216.00 | $864.00 | $10,368.00 | High initially, less over time |
| 9 | Sell Your Notes | Variable | $25.00 | $100.00 | $1,200.00 | Low |
How this list was made: our analysis assumed you would be able to spend around 6-12 hours a week side hustling (or 1-2 hours a day). Average pay is used. However, know when beginning a new side hustle you may need to set a lower rate to acquire business. You can expect to grow your income over time. Average pay is used to smooth out the variability for you.
1. Freelance Writing ($30/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $30.00 | $360.00 | $1,440.00 | $17,280.00 | Medium |
| 1 hour / day | $30.00 | $180.00 | $720.00 | $8,640.00 | Medium |
Freelance writing is our number one pick for online side hustling as a college student. With an average pay of $30/hr, it’s a flexible option available to virtually anyone who is able to write. The amount of time and energy it would take to research and write means this side hustle requires a medium effort of your overall time and ability.
Given the fact that you spend so much time doing homework and writing papers, it’s an optimal time to cash in on your good writing habits. You’re often paid by the word, which means that the more quickly and efficiently you can research and write, the more money you can make for your time.
To begin, check out sites like Contenta, Upwork, FlexJobs, or even Craigslist. The more practice you get, the more valuable your writing will be to other companies looking for top writing talent like yours.
2. Website Testing ($26/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $26.00 | $348.00 | $1,392.00 | $16,704.00 | Low |
| 1 hour / day | $26.00 | $174.00 | $696.00 | $8,352.00 | Low |
Coming in right behind freelance writing is website testing. With an average pay of $26/hr, you don’t need to know a lot about websites or applications to get paid testing them. Your level of technical savviness is less important than your willingness to participate, making the effort level of this side hustle relatively low.
Not only that, but this could be an excellent way to enjoy some less-cognitive activity while getting paid! Ditch the aimless scrolling of social media feeds and instead provide some valuable user feedback to companies looking to enhance their digital products. It’s fun, easy, and you can get started at websites like Usertesting in a short amount of time.
3. Online Surveys ($25/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low |
| 1 hour / day | $25.00 | $150.00 | $600.00 | $7,200.00 | Low |
Online surveys are a great online college side hustle. With an average pay of $25/hr, you can sit on your laptop and submit survey responses from virtually anywhere (so long as the wifi signal is holding up). This side hustle has great flexibility and an effort level that is extremely low. It’s a great way to spend down time in between classes or waiting for friends to show up before heading to your school’s next big game.
To get started, check out sites like Swagbucks and Survey Junkie. Work those sites or multiple other ones – the opportunities are numerous.
4. Online Tutoring ($25/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low to High |
| 1 hour / day | $25.00 | $150.00 | $600.00 | $7,200.00 | Low to High |
Online tutoring is a fun side hustle that provides a $25/hr average pay while also allowing you the opportunity to serve. Given your mastery in the subject you plan to be tutoring, your effort level may range from low to high. The more you know about the subject, the easier it may be. The variability of the student also plays a factor in your effort level as a tutor.
To get started, check out tutor.com or skooli. The more advanced you become as a tutor, the more you can charge over time. Seek out higher paying tutoring sites as you advance your tutoring side hustle.
5. Freelance Graphic Design ($25/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $25.00 | $300.00 | $1,200.00 | $14,400.00 | Low to High |
| 1 hour / day | $25.00 | $150.00 | $600.00 | $7,200.00 | Low to High |
Freelance graphic design jobs ranges from low to high in effort level, and averages $25/hr for potential pay. The range in effort is due to skill and ability. Few people will want to hire those who don’t know how to design or how to use powerful design programs or tools. However, if you’re a designer (or you take a few design classes over the course of a few semesters), you may have a much easier time competing for freelance graphic design gigs.
Start small with a low rate to win business. Scale your opportunities over time as you find success and take on higher paying jobs. Work on sites like Kimp and Fiverr, creating multiple accounts to win business across a larger pool of potential customers.
6. Translator ($21/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $21.00 | $252.00 | $1,008.00 | $12,096.00 | Medium |
| 1 hour / day | $21.00 | $126.00 | $504.00 | $6,048.00 | Medium |
As an online translator, you have the potential to make around $21/hr on average, with the ability to make much more (closer to $38/hr as your business and skills grow). Your effort level is at least medium, given the fact that you will be working in situations where you need to read or speak a different language than your native tongue.
If you know multiple languages, or are a master of your native language, being an online translator may be the right side hustle for you. Certain languages are more in-demand than others, but you can take advantage of your linguistics nonetheless. To get started, try out sites like gengo or blendexpress.
7. Virtual Assistant ($20/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $20.00 | $240.00 | $960.00 | $11,520.00 | Medium |
| 1 hour / day | $20.00 | $120.00 | $480.00 | $5,760.00 | Medium |
Being a virtual assistant means that you can make $20/hr on average to help manage someone else’s life or business needs. This side hustle requires a medium effort since you don’t know exactly the kind of work you’ll be asked to do up front. However, because being a virtual assistant means performing some more menial tasks, you should be able to get in the habit of data entry or meeting scheduling rather quickly – diminishing your effort over time.
Check out sites like Flexjobs that help post virtual assistant opportunities. Start with more basic assistant jobs, and then take on more tasking (and higher paying) jobs once you get a feel for this side hustle.
8. Blog ($18/hr)
| Time Commitment | Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| 2 hours / day | $18.00 | $216.00 | $864.00 | $10,368.00 | High initially, less over time |
| 1 hour / day | $18.00 | $108.00 | $432.00 | $5,184.00 | High initially, less over time |
Blogging is a great online side hustle for college students. It pays around $18/hr on average. Typically, it takes 8-16 months to begin making money; but given your college horizon of ~4 years, you can begin and scale a blog throughout your degree.
Share what you’re learning in your discipline online, or blog about your hobbies or some other niche that’s of interest to you. If you’re a subject matter expert and your knowledge or know-how is in demand, blogging may be a profitable side hustle for you. There is minimal effort to begin your blog, but setting up your website design and optimizing your content for search engines requires some high effort initially.
9. Sell your notes ($100/month)
| Hourly Rate | Weekly Earnings (6 days/week) | Monthly Earnings (4 weeks/month) | Yearly Earnings | Effort Level |
| Variable | $25.00 | $100.00 | $1,200.00 | Low |
Last – but not least – is selling your notes. Simply put, you take a lot of notes in college. And what better thing to do with them (aside from helping you pass finals) than to get paid for your hard work? Selling your notes is the college equivalent of getting paid to breathe. The pay is variable but you can average around $100/month with very little effort.
To begin selling notes, start by selling at places like study soup or nexus notes. Who knows, maybe the prospect of getting paid helps motivate you to take better notes (or simply, to take them)!
Summary
In order to make the most of your time and money as a college student, you’ll need to side hustle in ways that are low effort (according to your skills) and high paying. Side hustle online to optimize your time, and make money with the endless small pockets of time between classes or activities. However, not every high paying side hustle can be found online. Check out our list of the highest paying side hustles for college students to see if you’d rather pursue some in-person side hustles instead.
If you want to begin side hustling your way to financial independence, here’s a list of tips from people who have reached it themselves. Focus on your savings rate, grow your income, budget responsibly, and spend within your means (according to what makes you happy). Pretty soon, you’ll find yourself at the top of your financial mountain.
We’ll see you there.
Climb on, FinBase.
