StudySoup

StudySoup is a digital learning marketplace that provides the purchase and sale of academic content, such as course notes, study guides, and tutoring services.^[1][2][3][4]

Background

Sieva Kozinsky, an environmental studies graduate from UC Santa Barbara, had difficulty concentrating because of the speed of the lecture and lack of supportive academic resources.^{[1][5][6][7][8]} Kozinsky, along with Jeff Silverman, started StudySoup in 2014 to source academic support and provide a means for students to earn money while in school.^{[1][9][10][11][12][excessive citations]}

Operations

StudySoup is an online peer-to-peer learning marketplace^{[5][13][11][8]} that allows students to sell^[9] and purchase class notes and study guides.^{[1][13][14][10][11][excessive citations]} The sellers, also known as "Elite Notetakers",^[5] go through training^[9][15] to understand materials.^[1][6] They have to submit notes every week and a study guide four days prior to every exam.^[9][6] "Campus Marketing Coordinators" are responsible for connecting schools together by recruiting notetakers and establishing an on-campus presence.^{[citation needed]}

History

One year after release, 1.5 million students used the marketplace across the United States.^[16] The platform was opened up to more universities in 2016 as they expanded into Singapore and Canada. Several concerns about the legitimacy of StudySoup arose due to its changing business model.^[17]

Controversy

There have been documented instances of StudySoup using the imagery and logos of universities without permission in order to falsify and promote the idea that a school approves the platform.^[18] Florida State University has issued warnings to its students about StudySoup using FSU’s logo without the school‘s permission.