Varsity Tutors

What: Varsity Tutors finds in-person and online tutoring jobs for experts in everything from reading to LSAT preparation.

Expected pay: $15 to $40 per hour

Husl Score: $$$$

Commissions & Fees: NA

Where: Nationwide

Requirements:

18 or older; pass a background check and screening process 

Review:

If you are proficient at anything from grammar to law, you may be able to turn that proficiency into a tutoring position with Varsity Tutors. The site, which hires tutors for both in-person and online instruction, pays between $15 and $40 per hour. Tutors’ biggest knock against the site is that the $15 pay range is, by far, the most common.

You generally would need some advanced skills, such as the ability to tutor for advanced admissions tests, such as the LSAT or GRE, to earn more. And, if you’re tutoring in person, which requires commute time and gas, $15 an hour isn’t much.

However, tutors have the ability to teach online and are not penalized for turning down jobs that are outside of their chosen market. The site also pays tutors twice weekly by direct deposit, an attractive formula. Outside of wishing the pay were higher, we found few complaints about the platform.

Recommendations:

You may be able to secure better-paying tutoring positions through Wyzant or Chelsea International Education. 

What their users say:

(From Glassdoor)

I love the independence of scheduling and selecting my own students.  But I would like to receive some assistance from Varsity Tutors on mileage, especially with gas prices increasing.

The pay rates are about half of what other companies pay, but you do not need previous tutoring experience to apply. 

Being paid $15/hr to teach organic chemistry with a masters degree is ridiculous.

They charge over twice as much per session as you make, and are not up front about this.

You receive no training, and the pay isn’t comparable to what you can make elsewhere.

The main downside is pay. GRE tutors are paid $33 per hour, but the students are paying anywhere from $50-$90 per hour. So Varsity pockets anywhere from 33-63% of the income. It can be even worse for high school subjects, for which tutors only earn $15 per hour. It makes sense that Varsity needs to make some income to run their business, but taking this much as profit is exploitative to the tutors. Oh, and if you call and ask if there’s any possibility of higher pay, they hang up on you.