How to Earn Money Online for Students? [10 Trusted Ways]

With digitalization gaining momentum in the current decade, the chances and opportunities to earn and make money for individuals–be it students or retired professionals looking for extra income, have become easier.

If you are a student currently looking to gather some financial support while continuing your education, then there are diverse options and channels in the digital domain to make money. And what’s more, you can earn through most of these channels without investing your own assets! 

So if you’re exploring safe and credible ways to earn money while still studying, then herein we have delved deeper into the most popular 10 ways in which you can make money in the digital realm as a student. 

Can You Earn Money as a Student? 

To answer the question as to whether you can make money as a student or not, the answer most simply put is, yes. With more and more organisations and businesses shifting to the digital domain, major channels of work have opened up in the online mode.

Furthermore, with students getting more tech-savvy in recent years, accessing such online resources and working on such digital platforms have become easier for them. 

There are a number of safe and credible ways for students to invest their time and efforts to earn money through digital means. As a student, you might want to make a little extra income for covering your academic fee, supporting your personal expenses or even for saving up deposits for future use.

With the widespread advent of technology, this has become easier than ever for students to do, as a simple devotion of a few hours in a flexible duration can help you earn considerable amounts of money from the convenience of your home. 

Top 10 Ways to Earn While You Are Studying

Herein we have elaborated on a few easy virtual means for students to consider for earning money alongside their coursework.  

1) Freelancing 

Freelancing is probably the most popular means by which students or working professionals seek to earn money in a flexible manner as per their needs and convenience. Freelancing allows you to take up projects in a domain of your choice as per your convenience. 

As a student, it can be the most convenient option for you to work, upskill as well as earn decent amounts of money as it allows you to select a project of a suitable duration, mode and domain. To explore the best freelancing options, you must possess the necessary skills to complete the project, irrespective of whether you are formally trained in it or not.

Freelancing allows you to explore options of your choice to earn beyond your formal training or academic background. So despite being a software engineering student, you can freelance as a graphic designer if you’re sufficiently skilled in the domain.

Having an appealing and catchy portfolio in addition to prior experience is often beneficial in garnering excellent freelancing projects. Students can take up a vast number of freelancing projects in the online mode.

Some of the best platforms to explore options for freelancing in the online mode include those like Upwork, Fiverr, Internshala etc.

Some of the most appealing fields to take up freelancing projects include: 

• Data Entry 
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Graphic Designing 
• Sales and Business Development 
• Copywriting & Content Writing 
• Translation 
• Social Media Marketing & Digital Marketing 
• Photography 
• Proofreading 
• Software Development etc. 

Freelancing can be quite a convenient and lucrative option for you as a student if you are pursuing a full-time degree or other course. While time management can be tedious in case you are pursuing a regular course or degree, managing freelancing projects and coursework becomes seamless if you are a student in the online learning mode.

Often, pursuing relevant upskilling courses or degree programs in the online mode along with related freelancing projects allows for a synchronous industry-relevant skill-building through industry-academia integration. 

2) Content Writing 

Content writing is another lucrative domain you can consider to venture into. However, to earn well in this industry, you must possess certain minimal skills in writing and linguistic prowess in a particular language.

Provided you have skills of content writing, whether in the short or long-forms, you can find a number of opportunities to earn through projects in digital marketing, blogging domains, copywriting, social media management and so on.

Some of the forms in which you can practise content writing to earn money include:

• Long-form writing in the form of blogs, articles and news articles
• Short-form writing such as copywriting, writing for social media and so on. 

 In addition to freelancing projects, one can also explore part-time remote job roles which are well-paying and allow students to meet their daily goals in the flex-work hour format. 

3) Selling Designs & Goods Online

 A major surge in the demand for stock photographs, NFTs and other designs has been witnessed in recent times. With this, students who have an interest and skills in photography, graphic designing etc. can create their own designs or sell their stock photographs on platforms like Nifty Gateway, SuperRate, JPG Store, Opensea, Shutterstock, iStock, Getty Images, Pexels, Freepik etc.

Selling on such platforms means that as the owner of the piece you are sharing (in the case of an NFT), you can quote a desired amount and buyers willing to pay the same amount purchase the item from you. In the case of selling your stock photographs, stock photo platforms provide you with a fixed commission amount every time users download your photos. 

In addition to selling photographs and NFT designs, one can also sell products from the convenience of their homes through the online mode.

Many online shopping platforms as well as social media marketing provide convenient marketplaces for students to sell products (handmade, self-made or stocked) online for appealing prices and build up a business or earn extra money while continuing higher education. 

Creation of such designs, artworks and photos etc. can be aided by the requisite skills needed in art, graphic designing etc. With short-term online courses that enable upskilling in domains like designing, graphic art and so on, you can effectively grow your expertise and earn to the maximum extent while studying.

4) Filling Out Surveys 

This is a seamless, low-time investment to earn money. There are a number of online survey platforms including those like YouGov, SurveyRanks, Panda Research, Opinion Outpost, Survey Junkie, Paid Viewpoint etc. which are trusted, safe and credible sites for filling out surveys.

These platforms pay students and users for filling out various online surveys with authentic data. In some cases, these sites may provide points to students for filling out surveys, and upon reaching a specific amount of points, they get encashed.

This is a convenient and low-investment option for students to consider if they want to earn money while studying in an easy and effortless manner. 

However, despite the claimed safety and security of these platforms, one should carefully assess the safety and credibility of the surveys and researchers obtaining the data through the platforms. Students are requested to be especially wary before providing their personal details or identifying data on websites and platforms. 

5) Dropshipping 

Dropshipping is the practice of selling products online without stocking them oneself in an inventory. This practice can be taken up quite conveniently by students currently working, as they can effectively liaison with sellers (who stock the products) and help them connect with interested buyers.

The model of dropshipping functions with the dropshipper (in this case the student) forming a legal agreement with a seller of a product to act as the shipping connection between the latter and the buyers. When a buyer expresses interest in buying the product, the dropshipper confirms its availability of the same with the seller, confirms the order with the buyer, and ships the product from the seller to the buyer. Some prominent dropshipping platforms include those like Shopify, DropshipForSale, Eprolo, FondMart etc.  

6) Work on a Start-Up 

While this channel may not entail immediate income, it is one of the visionary ideas for many entrepreneurship enthusiasts, which they can consider planning further right from student life.

You can clarify your vision for a startup, the rationale for the same, the products/services you wish to offer through your venture, the stakes involved in the venture, identify prospective investors and shareholders in the same etc.

When done in consultation with the right mentors, guardians or partners for the start-up, one’s planning and strategizing for a start-up can expand gradually into a successful business venture. 

7) Content Creation 

Content creation can be in various forms, such as informative content creation for blogs, vlogs, video streaming platforms, audio platforms (e.g. podcasts) as well as for social media. Content creation can follow various formats, audio, image, audio-video, long-form, short-form and so on.

With greater interest of users on entertainment, infotainment, lifestyle domains etc. on social media and related streaming platforms, content creation can be quite a lucrative option for students to consider.

Creating informative blogs, vlogs, podcasts etc. can become channels for easy and sustained income over time with little investment–a gadget/electronic device for you to record your content and a stable internet connection to upload them on the requisite platforms. 

8) Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing is a promotional channel of earning money wherein a student can promote certain products and services of other retailers through their own content and in turn charge the retailer for the promotion.

This is often done by linking products’/services’ URLs to one’s own content on social media or other platforms, which enables increased visibility and sales of the product/service while as the affiliate marketer the student receives commission or payments for the visits to the product/service URL through their content.

Some of the common and credible platforms that allow students to explore such affiliate marketing opportunities include ClickBank, CJ Affiliate, Amazon, Semrush, eBay, Shopify and so on. 

9) Interning/ Working on Part-Time Basis 

In addition to earning through means such as freelancing and business/marketing ventures, students can also explore opportunities for internships and part-time professional roles, which serve the dual roles of providing a supplementary income to students as well as strengthening their resume and portfolios.

With most organizations and enterprises, from start-ups to large MNCs, a large part of the professional operations are often digital, thus allowing students to explore meaningful internships on a short-term basis. 

A large number of lucrative paid internships can be explored by students alongside their current academic commitment and can be conveniently taken up considering they are offered in the online/remote mode. Some of the reliable platforms to explore internships and part-time job opportunities include those like Internshala, Fiverr, Indeed, LinkedIn and so on.

The popular domains (in addition to discipline-specific internships) in which internships are available readily include: 

• Digital Marketing
• Social Media Marketing 
• Content Writing & Ghostwriting 
• Proofreading 
• Business Development 
• Translation Internships 
• PR internships etc. 

Pursuing internships can be a beneficial career strategy as it helps you to not only grow your skills and expertise, but also strengthens your resume and portfolio. Pursuing internships alongside regular offline courses might create time constraints and schedule-related clashes. For students pursuing online courses, time management issues can become easier to manage.

As highlighted earlier, matching one’s course with the internship opportunities one takes up allows for hands-on learning as well as a strong resume. 

10) Online Tutoring 

Lastly, another channel that a student can rely upon for earning while pursuing their education includes tutoring and instruction to other students. With facilitative techniques such as online video conferencing applications, online jamboards and easy access to virtual learning materials, you can easily provide online tuitions in areas of your expertise to junior students while pursuing your current education. Although gradual in gaining momentum, with spread of popularity and word of mouth, your online tutoring classes can become a source of high and steady income.

You can also sell learning materials and study notes for courses you have pursued erstwhile in the online mode. 

What Online Courses to Pursue as a Student to Earn Money Easily? 

As has been highlighted throughout the blog, the chances for simultaneous upskilling and growth of knowledge amplifies when one takes up online courses, because these learning programs provide flexible schedules, lecture slots, lecture recordings, self-paced learning opportunities and so on to students.

This creates a comfortable and conducive environment for the student to easily continue their education while also pursuing certain professional or related commitments alongside. 

In addition, in recent years, to enhance the earning opportunities for students in the online learning programs, a specific type of course, often referred to as a “Job-Guarantee” program, is being offered by many institutions. 

A job-guarantee program is a class of online learning programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate or executive levels wherein the student is guaranteed a placement as part of the educational program they are pursuing.

These include courses like bootcamp courses, pay-after placement programs as well as job-linked programs.

Enlisted below are a few of the popular online job-guaranteed courses that can help you earn high salaries through lucrative placements upon job completion -

Online Job-Linked Program in Advanced General Management	Online Job-Guaranteed Course in Cloud Computing
Online Job-Guaranteed Machine Learning Program	Online Job-Guaranteed Full Stack Development Program
Online Job-Guaranteed Course in Data Science & Analytics	Online Job-Guaranteed Course in UI/UX Designing
Certified Investment Banking Operations Program	Online PG Program in Financial Analysis
Online Business Development Certificate Program	Online Digital Marketing Certificate Program
Online Electric Vehicle Job-Guaranteed Certificate Program	Online Human Resource Management Job-Guaranteed Certificate Program
Online Product Management Certificate Program	Online M.A. English (Pay-After Placement Program)
Online BBA Pay-After Placement Program	Online B.A (Journalism & Mass Communication) Pay-After Placement Program
Online MBA Pay-After Placement Program	Online Data Science Pay-After Placement Program
Online Digital Marketing Bootcamp Program	Online Data Science & Analytics Bootcamp Program
Online Cloud Computing  Bootcamp Program	Online Full Stacks Software Development  Bootcamp Program

Conclusion 

As can be seen, there are a number of channels, be it marketing, interning or working as business mediators, that can allow students to easily pursue one’s educational course alongside earning money in the online mode. The remote internships, part-time opportunities as well as contractual options for working allow students to work in flexible hours and for flexible durations. Such opportunities pay decently well, and can be a source of supplementary income for students seeking financial independence and stability alongside their studies.