The document discusses the growing issue of student loan debt and rising costs of higher education in the United States. It notes that student loan debt has surpassed national credit card debt and that for-profit universities have high default rates. The cost of a credit hour has increased over 400% since 1979 when adjusted for inflation while minimum wage work now only covers about 10% of the cost it used to. Study Buddies is proposed as a solution to help students collaborate virtually to study and create online study guides to help reduce costs and improve grades. The platform would allow students to earn money for high quality study materials and integrate with calendars and collaborative editing tools.

1. Study Buddies
“Work Smarter. Not Harder”

2. The Plight of College Students
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• Student Loan Debt >
National Credit Card
Debt
• For Profit Universities
Generate 70% of
Defaults
• Class of 2015 isThe
Most Indebted Ever

3. How We Got Into This Situation
DataTaken from
Michigan State
University
(UTD is too new)
1979 2013 Percent Change
Students Employed
and Enrolled FullTime
34% 40% +6%
Students Employed
and Enrolled PartTime
81% 77% - 4%
Cost of One Credit
Hour
(Adjusted for Inflation)
$79.23 428.75 +441%
MinimumWage Work
Required for
One Credit Hour
8.5 hours 60 hours +606%
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4. Who Our Customers Are
3.7
6
11.2
12
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
High School Students
College Students
National Market for Study Guides
Students who use study sites regularly Students who don't
(In Millions)
(In Millions)
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5. How Study Buddies Solves The Issue
▪ Virtual Collaboration
▪Marketplace
▪Unique User Ratings
▪Get Paid for Better Grades
▪Cross College Resources
▪Integration with Google Calendar
▪ Study Guide Skeletons
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6. Study Buddies Now

7. Features in Later Updates
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• Hassle Free Collaborative
Editing
• The Marketplace
• Creating Guide Skeletons from
a Syllabus
• Create Google Calendar Events
Based on Deadlines

8. The Team
Mechanical Engineering
Freshman
Christian Cortes Ridge Frederick Jai Ghanekar AndrewVaccaro
Software Engineering
Senior
Computer Science
Sophomore
Software Engineering
Junior
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9. Citations
▪ http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-student-loan-debt-2010-12?op=1
▪ https://d13kvjv9gs2swm.cloudfront.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Student-
loan-debt.jpg
▪ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/the-myth-of-working-your-
way-through-college/359735/
▪ http://www.epi.org/publication/the-class-of-2015/
▪ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/underemployed-
overeducated_n_2568203.html
▪ http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
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