If you’re a student on campus, you might be looking for ways to make money that go beyond the usual part-time jobs. Learning a high-demand tech skill is a great way to not only earn an income now but also to build a powerful portfolio for your future career.
By developing the right digital skills, you can start earning real income while still in school and position yourself for a strong career launch after graduation.
In this article, we will review some top tech skills you can learn today to start making money before you even graduate.
Table of contents
How to Choose the Right Tech Skill As a Student.
Choosing the right tech skill as a student depends on three key factors , your passion, long-term career goals, and access to learning resources.
Start by identifying what genuinely interests you, whether it’s coding, design, or data. Then, align that passion with a career path that has strong growth potential.
Finally, consider the availability of affordable courses, mentorship, and tools to help you master the skill efficiently. Balancing these elements ensures you choose a tech skill you’ll enjoy, excel at, and can turn into a rewarding career.
If you are wondering what skills top the chart for students to learn in 2025, see our list below:
1. Website Design
Every business, regardless of size and location, needs a website. Without one, a business risks looking unprofessional or illegitimate. Therefore, there will always be a need for professional website design services.
Although some argue that with the rise of website builders like WordPress and Webflow, business owners can design their websites themselves, this isn’t entirely true. The number of freelancers and website design agencies, like Kestrel Digital (a leading website design agency in Nigeria), continues to increase.
Learning website design can have a steep learning curve, as you’ll need knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, in addition to learning specific tools like WordPress, Shopify, or Webflow. However, if you can commit to learning it and have a knack for design, you can stand out and start building your portfolio while still in university.
2. Videography & Video Editing
With the rise of short-form content—popularized by TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts—the demand for videographers and video editors has skyrocketed. Even platforms like LinkedIn now feature short-form videos. Unlike in the past when video editing was exclusively done by large, multi-million Naira companies, now companies of all sizes want video content.
Therefore, learning video editing and directing is an in-demand skill. You don’t necessarily need expensive equipment to start; you can use an iPhone and free software like CapCut before moving on to more complex programs like Adobe Premiere Pro.
While learning, you can build your portfolio by recording videos of your coursemates, campus life, or a “day in the life of a student.” Before long, you could have businesses reaching out for similar videos, allowing you to build your portfolio.
Read This: 50 Best Skills to Learn Before College
3. Graphic Design & Branding
While videos seem to have taken over, graphic design is still a very important skill, used for everything from social media announcements to T-shirt designs. Graphic design remains a core element for any brand’s online presence.
However, graphic design by itself often isn’t enough. You’ll also need to understand branding—knowing how colors communicate, what they mean, and the emotions they evoke. To stand out today, you need genuine artistic ability and creativity to produce designs that are not just run-of-the-mill, but truly exceptional. This is especially true as DIY tools like Canva have captured the market for basic design work.
4. Programming
Programming remains one of the highest-paying tech skills today. While some believe AI will make developers obsolete, with terms like “vibe coding” emerging, the reality is that these tools assist coders and make their jobs faster. There’s even a rising service called “AI slop fixing,” where developers charge a premium to clean up code written by AI that has crashed or caused a huge security flaw.
So, if you’re in university and wondering if programming is a good skill to learn, the answer is a resounding “YES.” It’s a valuable skill that will remain in high demand for a long time. Give it a try. If you have a knack for it and believe you can excel, stick with it. But if you discover it’s not for you and you’ll only be mediocre at best, keep searching for a skill where you can truly shine.
Read Also: What Business Can I Start with 50k in Nigeria as a Student? 12 Unique Business Ideas
5. Digital Marketing
Every business’s end goal is to make sales, gain new customers, and increase the bottom line. The individuals responsible for this are the marketers. In this age of the internet, digital marketing is more important than ever. With so many businesses and content creators, the online space is more crowded than ever, increasing the need for professional digital marketers.
Digital marketing is also quite broad, covering areas like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), social media marketing, email marketing, and more. You can start by specializing in one area and gradually expand into others.
Digital marketing is a very in-demand skill, evidenced by the success of various agencies (like Kestrel Digital a digital marketing agency in Nigeria and WebFX) and numerous freelancers. If you’re looking to learn, platforms like Udemy and Coursera are great starting points. You could also seek an internship at a digital marketing agency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Freelancing skills like programming, graphic design, writing, and tutoring are the most profitable for students because they offer high demand and flexible work opportunities.
The best skill for students is one that combines their passion with high market demand, such as web development, graphic design, or digital marketing.
As a student, you can make money by learning and mastering a valuable skill, then offering your services to earn income from what you do best.
Conclusion
These are some of the top skills you can learn on campus to earn money and gain a competitive edge after graduation. These skills were selected because they have a relatively low barrier to entry and high-income potential. For example, in graphic design, you can charge more as your skill level increases.
Most importantly, while learning these skills, it’s crucial to master time management. Your new skills shouldn’t come at the expense of your academic performance, or vice versa.
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