4A Forming an Opportunity Belief
- For my beginning point of this assignment, I believe that all students should be able to access needed materials for their college and university classes easily and affordably. I understand that these materials are in high demand, so they are typically more expensive than others; however, I also believe that today’s tuition rate, especially for out of state students and students not on scholarship is tremendous. The majority of undergraduate students I know, including myself, rely on scholarships and loans just to make ends meet and satisfy outstanding charges.
- The unmet need is access to affordable textbooks, yes students can easily gain access to textbooks tangibly; however, this ease of access comes at a hefty price point. I would confidently say the majority of college students, graduate students included, have this need. I believe that this need has always been an issue, though within recent decades the price of college textbooks has skyrocketed, along with tuition rates. Personally, I can say I have opted to go without a textbook for a course if my scholarship is not enough to cover it because I can not afford a $200.00 + book for each of my 4-6 classes per semester. Students can either go without purchasing a book altogether or wait until halfway through the course when they find an affordable option through their peers or an online version. Another way students meet this need is taking out student loans. Even if the loans are subsidized by the government, these students still graduate with a good amount of debt, which may be prevented if resources such as textbooks were not as expensive. I am 75% sure that this need is unmet and could be fixed.
- The prototypical customer for affordable college textbooks would be undergraduate students and graduate students, usually between the ages of 17 and 26. Though many people going back to school in their later life would also be a prototypical customer.
- Interviews:
A. For my initial interview, I interviewed a friend of mine in the Construction College at UF. I asked her the questions mentioned in the assignment description, as I will do with my following two interviews and these are her responses:
I think that I would highly benefit from cheaper textbook access because I am currently relying on money I saved up working over the summer for the entire school year. Keeping in mind the price of living, such as rent, groceries, and insurance, it is hard to bring myself to spend almost an additional $1000.00 a semester for things I need to succeed in a class I am paying over $200.00 a credit hour for. I usually experience this need a few weeks before each semester begins, and if I cannot buy all my textbooks in this time period, the need flows over into the semester itself. I have had this need since I began taking classes at the University of Florida and Santa Fe because I had to start supporting myself in school, my parents do not support me financially when it comes to tuition and school expenses. I am currently addressing this need by trying to find cheaper versions of textbooks on websites like Amazon; however, it is difficult to find each textbook I need when I need it and most of the time I can’t even find the right versions. I am not 100% satisfied with my current solution, so I would love to find an outlet for cheaper textbooks.
B. For my second interview, I interviewed my cousin who is in law school at the University of Georgia. I asked her the same set of questions as I did in the first interview and her answers show to be similar.
I think that cheaper textbooks would be so helpful because it is hard for me to hold a job other than internships during law school. The books and supplies I need are super expensive and I am no longer on scholarship like I was in undergrad! Initially, I became aware of this need when I was in undergrad when I looked at my charges, however scholarship always covered them, now I really see the need in my daily life as expenses like textbooks and other comparables seem to be neverending. Since this is my first year of law school, this will be my fifth year of technically having this need, but my first real year of really understanding it. I am currently buying my textbooks on loans and some money I have made in previous internships, but I don’t really like this as I need that money for rent and tuition as well.
C. My final interview was with a student in my 6th block class on Tuesday, again I asked the same group of questions and these are the responses I received:
I understand this need somewhat because I have many friends that experience it more than I do, this semester my parents helped me buy my textbooks but they reminded me how grateful I should be because all of my textbooks amounted to a large sum of money and they have another child about to go to college in the next two years, which they then will probably not be able to help me as much financially. I became aware of the need for cheaper textbooks when my parents told me I will have to start buying my own in a few semesters and I think it will then affect my life a little stronger. I will probably have to save up before the start of each semester. Although I am not addressing the need physically at this point, I think I will try to find books that are heavily used or online pdf versions, there is no way I will be able to afford all of my textbooks if they are more than $50.00 a piece.
- Reflection:
I think I learned that if my opportunity were to be implemented it would drastically benefit many students of all ages and majors. I think that it is sometimes hard to understand the financial burden of all of your peers, but while I interviewed people, I realized that the majority of us are all in the same boat. We are adults per se and part of that is financially supporting ourselves, whether it is with a job, loans, scholarship, or grants. However, I was surprised that many people rely more on loans than holding a job as I thought it was strange I was taking out a good chunk of loans.
- Summary:
I would say that my opportunity still exists, however, I do not know how feasible it would be to implement it with legislation and everything. Like I stated previously, there is such a high demand for textbooks, so it may be difficult to substantially lower the price. I think that my new opportunity is somewhat more accurate because I gained more knowledge about the subject. Speaking about adapting, I do think that entrepreneurs should adapt based on customer need because that is the sole purpose behind their business model and plan.