Throughout this process of analyzing our survey and interview responses, we discovered that financial stress is a large pain point for students. Depending on a student's situation, it can be extremely difficult for them to juggle the stress of their academics, jobs, internships, and extracurriculars while also needing to make sure that they have enough money to pay for tuition, housing, groceries, and more. Our participants from out-of-state expressed that the toll of purchasing required materials is especially frustrating for them, as they already pay a substantial amount more in tuition costs than in-state students do, making them wonder why textbooks are not included in that amount. This multi-tasking can also be especially hard for students who are financially independent, and don't have much outside help when paying for their basic needs. An increase in financial stress can lead to a decline in academic success and mental health, which are both important things that should be prioritized by the university over money. Students have enough on their plate as it is, so when they enroll in courses that they already pay thousands of dollars in tuition for, it can be difficult for them to learn that they must spend even more money in order to successfully participate in the class.  

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In an attempt to curve the added financial burden of purchasing course materials, there were several different ideas proposed by our participants. We categorized each idea into a different group, and ranked them in our axial coding, as seen in the image above. The first group proposes that the University of Maryland provide PDFs and other required materials for free to its students. This can include creating a database that houses access to free versions of each required material as submitted by each professor for their course(s) at the beginning of the semester. The second group proposes that if materials are to be required, they should be as cheap as possible. The third group proposes that the university should offer scholarships to help with the prices of textbooks and/or utilize the money they receive from students' tuition to pay for these resources. The fourth group proposes that the University of Maryland set aside a fund to collect money that can then be given to students' who need the extra help with affording course materials. The fifth group is the "other" group, where we received two responses that did not adequately fit into the other four categories. One of these responses proposes that the university utilize the income gained from its athletics to alleviate the financial burden of requiring course materials, while other other response proposes that the university base its financial aid for course materials on income level. These groups connect to each other in ways that are depicted in our Affinity Diagram at the top of the page. 

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Overall, we have learned that most students believe that it is a problem that professors at the University of Maryland require textbooks and other course materials that cost money, and many believe that the university should be the one alleviating this burden. We will utilize the feedback we received from participants to create a design that is easy to use, free to use, and helps release students from the added pressure of figuring out how to pay for and obtain required course materials, while also taking into account the financial abilities of the University of Maryland. 

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