Key Features
Course Notes & Study Guides: Access curated notes from classmates.
Flexible Earning: students and note-takers can earn money while studying.
Mobile & Web Access: Learn and teach from anywhere.
Community Learning: Peer-driven platform fostering collaboration.
How StudySoup Works
StudySoup is a peer-to-peer learning platform where college students share and sell academic resources with classmates. The platform enlists students from accredited universities to upload lecture notes, study guides, and exam prep materials for the courses they are actively enrolled in. By doing so, it ensures that buyers receive relevant, high-quality content tailored to their exact class. StudySoup also offers roles like Elite Notetaker, who earns by selling notes, and advancement opportunities like Campus Mentor, who helps recruit and guide new contributors, and Regional Lead.
How to Sign Up
Getting started is simple. You should register using your official university email address (usually ending in .edu or equivalent), provide your school name, the specific course, and sometimes the professor’s name. This step verifies that you are enrolled at an accredited institution. Once signed up, you’ll select the courses you’re taking from StudySoup’s system. To qualify, each course must have at least five classmates also enrolled on the platform, ensuring there’s enough demand for your notes.
Application Process
After signing up, you apply to become an Elite Notetaker. The application typically asks for your school, course details, and sometimes your professor’s name. You’ll then sign a contract which is more of a participation agreement than a legal document. This agreement has your schedule for uploading weekly lecture notes amd exam preparation before midterms and finals. By signing it, you commit to being consistent and reliable so it ensures classmates can count on fresh and timely resources.
Once approved, you’ll be able to upload notes and study guides directly to the platform and earn commissions and bonuses. StudySoup may also provide onboarding materials to help you understand formatting, quality standards, and how to maximize your earnings.
How to Start Making Money
The main way to earn is by consistently uploading detailed, organized notes and exam study guides for your classes. Other students purchase these resources, and you earn a commission from each sale. The more thorough and reliable your notes, the more likely they are to be bought.
Unlike other study materials databases, success on StudySoup requires real effort. It’s not just about uploading documents and hope for the best. Promoting your notes to classmates, encouraging them to sign up to the platform and supporting notetakers as a Campus Mentor guarantee earning real profit.
Becoming a Campus Mentor tends to generate more money since students will rely on your mentorship and explanations, and even have 101 sessions with you, giving you a chance to be recommended to other peers.
You can also earn more by becoming a Regional lead where you oversee and support Campus Mentors in their work, set goals, and host training sessions or webinars. With steady participation, top contributors mention they made hundreds of dollars per class, and some report earning thousands per semester.
What’s StudySoup Requirements
To ensure approval on StudySoup, you must be an undergraduate student at an accredited university, have at least five classmates on the platform who are enrolled in the class you want to take notes for (you can’t upload notes for courses you’re not attending). As an Elite Notetaker, your notes must be detailed, useful, and relevant. They should contain important concepts and terms covered in lectures and assigned readings. Include citations and references (mention textbook names and page numbers).
Use a scanner app to scan your handwritten notes and upload them as a PDF file. Convert all Word or Google Doc files into PDF format as well.
Any data you submit to the StudySoup database must be generated by you personally. StudySoup has zero tolerance for copied or stolen materials, so uploading your instructor’s materials will lead to permanent suspension of your account.
It’s important to note that you must commit to the contract you signed by uploading notes on a weekly basis, and study guides at least four days before the exam date.
As for Campus Mentor requirements, you must have active student status at your university and strong communication skills to recruit and guide new Elite Notetakers. You’ll act as an ambassador, spreading awareness of StudySoup on campus. Expect to maintain engagement with recruits and help them succeed.
Having experience as a Campus Mentor is often required before promotion to be eligible for the Regional Lead role. Your responsibility is to ensure growth and quality across a region rather than just one campus, so you must maintain that standard to succeed.
Earnings and Fees
On StudySoup, your earnings depend on consistency, class size, and the quality of your notes. As an Elite Notetaker, the average pay ranges between $300–$500 per class, with top contributors making over $2,000 per semester if they upload weekly notes and exam study guides.
Some roles, like Campus Mentor can add extra income through stipends or hourly pay (around $12–$25 per hour for promotional work). This is often tied to recruitment numbers and activity levels of the students you bring in. As for Regional Lead compensation, larger stipends or bonuses reflect the wider scope of work.
In terms of fees, StudySoup doesn’t charge you to join or upload notes. Instead, they take a cut from sales, so your earnings are based on commissions rather than upfront costs.
Your income depends on demand for your notes and your consistency in meeting upload requirements.
Is StudySoup Legit?
Yes, StudySoup is a legitimate database of study materials founded in 2014. It’s trusted by millions of students who use it to buy and sell class notes, study guides, and tutoring services. This peer-to-peer platform gives students the opportunity to earn from sharing their study materials. Many users report receiving their payments and having good experience using their subscription plan.
Can I Submit AI-Generated Study Materials?
The simple answer is no. StudySoup is only interested in having human-curated study materials in its database. Your notes must be original, covered in real classes you attended, and created by you. As mentioned earlier, StudySoup only allows students who are officially enrolled in a specific class to upload and sell notes for that class. In other words, you can’t just sign up and post AI-generated notes for any random subject, you must actually be taking the course at your accredited university. This ensures that the notes are authentic, relevant, and tailored to the exact lectures and materials that classmates in that same course need. It’s a way to maintain quality and trust: buyers know the notes come from someone who sat in the same classroom, heard the same professor, and followed the same syllabus.
StudySoup will check your university email address and other personal details you provide, along with the documents you upload, to confirm you are a genuine student attending the classes you claim your notes are taken from. So there is no chance of using AI to maximize your earnings or help you speed up the process.
Pros & Cons
✔ Flexible side hustle for students to earn money by uploading notes or tutoring.
✔ Large database of study guides and notes that helps students prepare for exams.
✔ Community-driven learning with peer-to-peer support and shared resources.
✗ Slow customer support response times noted in reviews.
✗ Success depends heavily on demand and consistency.
✗ Requires refined, easy-to-read documents, which consume time.
✗ Requires consistency and effort to build presence.
✗ Your university must be recognized by the StudySoup system, and you must have at least five classmates to be allowed to upload materials, which can be restrictive.
✗ Must commit to a contract agreement of uploading weekly notes to earn. Some students may miss uploading due to their busy schedules, causing them to lose their account.
✗ Only U.S. universities are acknowledged, allowing only students studying in the U.S. to join, excluding the rest of the world from earning opportunities.
