Form 1099-NEC was resurrected a few years ago in order to distinguish Self-Employment income from everything else.
Unfortunately, there are people that issue payroll and tax forms that don't use the correct form.
No, you were not really paid as a sub-contractor, so they should not have issued Form 1099-NEC.
I think they should have used Form 1099-MISC.
If the school paid it all, it could be reported as scholarship income, but since the business paid some, it would be "Other Income".
Since you are "stuck" with Form 1099-NEC, enter it and choose "Hobby" as the type of income it represents.
That way it is taxed as other income (subject to income tax) but not Self-Employment tax (FICA).
You also won't need to upgrade to file Schedule C.
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