Course Hero Review – Become a Work From Home Tutor

Course Hero is an online educational platform, providing learning tools and assistance for students. The main focus of their site is an expansive collection of educational material, including things like study-guides, practice tests, and class notes.

As an addition to their massive document library, Course Hero also offers a unique and simple-to-use online tutoring service, which is staffed by a large team of work from home experts (and you could be one of them!).

Working For Course Hero

There are big differences in the way Course Hero handles tutoring compared to most similar sites.

Instead of engaging in one on one video chat sessions with students, you'll browse a list of questions related to your area of expertise, and provide well researched answers. In some ways, the job seems to be similar to services like Ask Wonder, or the (now defunct) ChaCha.

This way of teaching could be a good fit for those who feel uncomfortable dealing with the one-on-one social interaction required for most tutoring jobs. Plus it eliminates all the typical scheduling requirements for video-chat sessions, which means you can be more selective about when and how you choose to work.

Course Hero Pay Rate

According to the Course Hero website, top tutors earn an average of $500 a week, but there's not much information on what criteria they're using to define “top tutors.” They do mention on the hiring page that tutors get more opportunities to work as their “rating” improves, so that probably has something to do with it.

Based on what I could dig up during my research, the pay is generally doled out on a per-question basis. Individual questions can pay as little as $1 and as much as $5, depending on a variety of factors, including the subject, and the perceived difficulty.

What this means in practical terms is that some people will make a lot more than others because they're just faster at answering. Maybe they know a lot more about the subject, or maybe they're better at doing research.

Since it sounds like your tutor rating plays some role in determining the number of questions you have access to, getting that number as high as possible will probably be a major focus for most new hires, and it could take some time to reach your max earning potential.

Scheduling With Course Hero

One of the best things about Course Hero is the lack of strict scheduling rules. You can log in whenever you want, and answer the questions that seem most interesting or lucrative.

You have the choice to use this as a side-gig for occasional extra cash, or you could spend a lot of time to get as much money as possible, depending on your situation.

One thing to keep in mind – with jobs of this nature there are usually peak times when it's much easier to make money, so you might need to build your schedule in a particular way to maximize income.

Requirements to Apply

Course Hero is less strict about educational requirements than most tutoring sites. You don't have to be a certified tutor, and (depending on your particular niche) you might not even need to have any college education at all.

They have a general mandate that you provide them with credentials proving your expertise, but there's nothing specific about what qualifies as proof.

In some cases, you might need to provide documents that demonstrate past experience in some particular industry, or you might have to show them a college degree.

The way everything's worded makes it seem like there's a certain amount of wiggle room; as if they don't really want to close the door on anybody up-front, and would prefer to determine qualifications on a case by case basis.

Tech Requirements

Like any other online job, you'll need a functional computer with internet access, but there are no specific equipment requirements. This sets them apart from most other tutoring gigs, which often require a minimum connection speed along with a web-cam and a private place to work.

Application Process

There's very little information on the website about their hiring process, but based on comments I found during my research, it can potentially take more than a week to get hired, and you'll probably have to do a phone interview.

Feedback

I used Glassdoor to find reviews from former and current Course Hero tutors, and while the overall score (3.2) isn't terrible, there were a few complaints.

The biggest recurring gripe was related to the pay. Apparently it's pretty hard to make a livable wage by answering questions.

One person mentioned that the pay-per-question had recently been increased, but some of the comments posted at a later date make it sound like things are still pretty rough.

There were also quite a few people upset about being terminated unexpectedly, and several reviewers suggested that the company doesn't really care about its tutors.

Those who enjoyed the job were mostly impressed with the schedule flexibility. They liked being able to log in and work whenever they wanted, and even though the pay was low, they thought the work was fun and fairly easy.

Overall, it sounds like Course Hero is the kind of job where your experience will depend largely on your expectations going in.

If you're looking to make a full time living as an online tutor, this job might not be right for you. If you just want a side-gig where you log in occasionally and answer questions for extra cash, it might be the perfect fit.

How To Get Started

To sign up for a position as an online tutor with Course Hero, go here to get more information about the job and put in your application.