4A) Opportunity: college books and supplies.

I think that one of the biggest problems that college students face every semester is the high price of school materials. It has become a standard for an average student in a public four-year undergraduate program to spend well over a $1000 (according to College Board) in books and supplies. In this amount is not included the cost of a portable computer (laptop, tablets, etc.), which is indispensable now a days and range from a simple notebook (about $300) to a high-end computer (up to $2000). This is a concern for college students, specially from low- and medium-income families, when at the beginning of each semester they have to buy the material for the new courses. To avoid increasing the cost of attending college, most of these students try to rent or buy used books, which are less expensive. The problem with this is that books companies come with new editions of their books practically every year and, somehow, enforce schools and professors to use the new editions. I am sure that this problem is affecting about 70% of undergraduate students.

Prototypical person: Students from low- and medium-income families, and who are attending undergraduate programs.

Interviews

1.      Female (20 years), student (freshmen) and employee part time:

·       Why do you spend so much on books and supplies?

Schools and professors are very strict with what we need to use, and companies take advantage of that, charging high prices.

·       When did you become aware of this?

Even before I started college, I heard stories of friends who paid even about $300 for a book and $100 for a calculator, and only used them for a semester.

·       When did you start having this problem?

In my previous college (small and private) it wasn’t a big problem, but since I started this semester at Miami Dade College, I was required to purchase a subscription to McGraw-Hill Connect, which was $189.

·       What do you do to address this problem?

There isn’t much I can do to change the fact that I have to spend a ton of money in books and supplies, I start saving money ahead of time and ask someone to lend me his books or something like that.

·       Has it worked? Are you satisfied with the results?

It hasn’t been very effective, since I have to at least spend $200 for some things that I will barely use and could be using the money to cover other needs.

2.      Male (21 years), student (junior): 

·       Why do you spend so much on books and supplies?

Most of the required books for my classes are over $100, and they are not even physical and only give me a subscription for a short period of time, which not only means that I don’t own the book, but if I need a future reference, I won’t be able to use that book.

·       When did you become aware of this?

The moment I realized that college books and supplies were so expensive was when I had to buy my first one. I had never heard anything about the price of these things, and no one ever told me, also, because I come from another country, it wasn’t something that I would consider.

·       When did you start having this problem?

So far it has been six semesters with this problem and the issue is that they add up. It is hard to get a return on these books because most of them are online and for the hardcopies they make new editions all the time, plus they lose value when you use them. The issue with the rest of the material is that you never know when you are going to need them again. This becomes a problem at the beginning of every semester, when I have to spend a minimum of $200 just in books, and because of my major, I have to use calculators and so far, I have been required to use three different types of calculators (the worst part is that I didn’t need them again). The other thing that bothers me is to buy scantrons to take exams, when the school is supposed to take care of that.

·       What do you do to address this problem?

Right now, there isn’t much I can do, most people tell you to sell the books, but I already told what’s the issue with that. What is left is to buy or rent (if possible) used books when it is a hardcopy, or to wait the first week of class to see if the book is actually needed, but it means that I will start behind everyone with the assignments and readings.

·       Has it worked? Are you satisfied with the results?

I would say that doing those things help a little bit, but then it becomes stressful, because you pay more attention to what the book is going to cost, where to get it and how.

3.      Female (42), student (senior graduating) and full-time employee:

·       Why do you spend so much on books and supplies?

Medicine Books are way too expensive to buy, and when you buy a used one from previous students, there is a new edition of the book with a small change. I also have to buy all the instruments for my career (optometry), I looked it up online and it was cheaper than directly from the school, which is mandatory. Also, as part of my school policies I had to buy a tablet. Ah! And in the bookstore is even more expensive.

·       When did you become aware of this? When did you start having this problem?

Since my first semester which was in a public college (Miami Dade College), but now I am in a private university (Nova) and it is even worse. It is my headache every beginning of a semester.

·       What do you do to address this problem?

In my case, books are hardcopy and allow me to rent them most of the time. I tried to buy used books, but they were in bad conditions and I decided that I would rent them new instead. For the other things I had no other option that buy them from the school for a high price.

·       Has it worked? Are you satisfied with the results?

In my case, I am fine with the fact that I has been able to get new books, but I am aware that it is more expensive than the other way, but I know that it is a problem for most people. Anyways, I would like to find a way to save more money on books and school supplies.

General reflection:

               I saw a common patter among the three prospective customers and is that they all agreed in the that books and supplies are very expensive and feel like schools don’t make it easier. For example, my third interviewee was mad at the school for having such high prices in the bookstore, making it impossible to afford anything from there. Another observation that I could may is that immigrants are not aware of this problem until they start college. When it comes to how face this problem, they know that the first option is to buy used books or rent them. When it comes to online books and by subscription, which is a new trend, and also the fact that editorials come up with new editions constantly ruins the aforementioned strategy and forces you to buy the new option.

Summary:

               After this little research, I believe that there is a real problem with the cost of books and school supply for college students, and that there is a huge opportunity to help them have a better college experience. I even think that this issue not only has a instant repercussion on the student, but it is also a long term problem for them and the government. The student debt (more than $1.5 trillion) has been increasing drastically to the point that there might not be enough money for the near future and the number of students falling on default is expected to be 40% by 2023. I think that I have a better picture of the problem now because this study confirms my idea and gives me feedback on how different people react to the same situation. This also helped me to narrow down to the most important problems, needs and opportunities. Feedback is a very important tool in life, but specially for entrepreneurs who are working with big groups of people with different characteristics and experiences. Therefore, listening and adapting to those opinions should be the right thing to do if I want to succeed as an entrepreneur. The only moment when it shouldn’t be like that, is when we realize that we are going far away from our original idea, then we might consider changing the target market segment.