Over Thanksgiving, news broke that Netflix is having a price increase in their streaming services. According to ALTPress, Netflix subscription will jump from $9.99 to $10.99 for their standard U.S. subscription, their premier tier ( ultra HD and four screens at the same time)  will go from $11.99 to $13.99 and their basic plan of $7.99 will not be changed.

How will this affect college students?

According to Business Finder, 92 percent of college students use Netflix and 34 percent of college students have their own Netflix account. This increase will ultimately affect how many college students will keep their account active. Some students are already struggling financially during school and now Netflix is adding to the burden.

Netflix cites the price increase as a necessary change to add more of what their consumers want to watch, to add features so consumers can download favorites and for consumers to be able to watch without wifi. But is this really going to benefit their consumers? There have been both positive and negative reactions to the price increase and some consumers are not satisfied with this change.

Consumers already deal with Netflix removing certain shows and movies or not having as diverse a catalog as users would like to see. Will the price increase change this, is a question that has been asked. Netflix is taking advantage of their consumer, and seeing that the majority of their consumers are college students,that means they are taking advantage of us.

Corina Rodriguez, a sophomore at the university who has been using Netflix for four years, explains that Netflix is taking advantage of how popular it has become.

“They know it’s something people rely on for TV shows and movies, so they raise the price knowing people are still going to use it,” Rodriguez said.

Media giant Netflix has dominated the television, movie, and streaming industry for over the last ten years. With an immediate focus on delivering customers favorite shows and their own catalog of original content, Netflix has successfully built an empire with no plans to slow down.

This price increase affects everyone worldwide, but most of all, college students and low-income households. If they can barely afford the price now, what makes Netflix’s owners think that they will be able to afford it with an increase?

Netflix is already an empire that makes millions every day, so there really shouldn’t be an increase. It can possibly be because of the conversation of net neutrality or Netflix is becoming greedy, but it is unfair towards college students who enjoy Netflix and can afford it at the current price.