You do not have to have any special certification to be a tutor, but obviously degrees and certifications do give you more authenticity and perceived value. Since no certification or degree is necessary that means that you may have lots of competition depending on where you live. You will have competition from online tutors as well. Speaking of which, if your local market isn’t busy enough, online is a great place to set up a tutoring business. Tutoring from home in your pajamas. Now that is the life. LOL. Get yourself a free 3-seater vRoom from Elluminate. This is absolutely THE most incredible tool for tutoring. Your student merely takes a link and enters your classroom on the web. It will have full-duplex audio, whiteboard, webcam, text chat, and more. The kids love it in there and it is fun and easy to work with as a teacher. You will need a mic and headset. I also recommend getting a pen tablet. It is easier to use than trying to write with a mouse on a computer screen. Adesso has one for about $50. My kids use the Adesso and it has been fine. I use a Wacom Intuous 3 personally. But I am also a professional prortait artist, so I can justify the $250 tablet because I use it for my portrait work as well.

Advertise your services. You can do this thru the university, or high schools. Set up your own tutoring practice. You will need a place where you have room to work with students.

If you want to work for someone contact a company like Sylvan Learning Centers and see what they require.

I am a former teacher who did tutoring n the summer. I actually enjoyed tutoring more than teaching, but I never thought of myself as a professional tutor. Tutoring does pay well; you can set your own prices. The drawback is that you will be working after school hours and on week ends.

You may also consider working as a tutor for students who are hospitalized for long term treatment.

RE:
How to become a professional tutor and if it pays well?
I have been a Math, Chemistry, and Physics peer tutor for two years at a private university. I enjoy doing it and I want to do it in the future. How do I become a professional tutor? Does it pay well?

Best way is to join any reputed on line teaching organisation. It is difficult to establish as on line teacher for an individual. If you wish to become online tutor independently than you should have your own web site for on line teaching. hsj