People who are looking to teach online are often individuals who are either looking for a supplemental income to help pay the bills or are simply looking for a new start. At first, I was one of the supplemental income people. I taught online to make some extra money. It was extra money until the day I realized that with a few schools, I could make more money than any criminal justice job I could get. I could work from home. I could, basically, set my own schedule, work less hours, and not have to risk my life every day.
For the sake of maintaining the privacy of the schools I do work for, I am not going to list names of schools and who pays what. Let me provide you with a few examples to help you get a better understanding of how schools pay. At the schools that I work for, pay varies from $1,100 to $2,850 per class. Pay for each class may not be high, but normally the school gives you a few classes. Ideally, these classes will be the same, which helps preparing and working through the course. It is easier to teach two sections of the same class in lieu of two classes that are different. Let’s look at an example. Online School A pays $2,000 per class and you can teach 10 classes a year with them. That is $20,000 a year. Online School B pays $1,500 per class, but you can teach 15 classes a year for them. That is $22,500 from that school. This adds up to $42,500 from those two schools alone. That is more than some people make in a year! That is with having two part-time jobs.

I want you to understand that not all schools pay that much. Some pay more and some pay less. I have worked for some schools where I was lucky if I made $3,000 for the year, while there were others through which I have been able to make $30,000 plus a year consistently over the last six years. Keep in mind that you are a subcontractor for this school and no future work is guaranteed. You are an “at will” employee – but isn’t everyone?
People often criticize me, saying that there is no job security in what I do. I then ask them this question: “If you lost your job tomorrow, how much of your salary would you lose?” They always reply, “All of it.” I then tell them, “If I lose one of my jobs, I am out 10 percent of my salary, but I still have other work.” I would say that my jobs are more secure than those of anyone I know. As you have heard me mention before and you will hear me mention again, this is based on my experiences. During the economic downfall the past few years, I have seen many people lose their jobs and be crippled by the financial burden that this has put on them and their families. It is very sad to see people lose their home because they cannot pay their bills. I made the decision years ago to put my fate in my own hands and make opportunities happen for me. Since I started teaching online in 2004, I have made more money than I could have ever dreamed of earning at any criminal justice job. It would have taken me 20 years to get to this level of income. Please understand that I am very grateful for all of the opportunities that have been presented to me and I do not ever take any of them for granted. This is why I want to share with you what it takes to be successful in this line of work. I want to provide you with the same opportunities that I had. Please keep this in mind as you go through this book. It takes hard work, but I am living proof that it pays off in the end.