Textbook Prices Continue to Concern Students Student Council Prepares to Take Issue on
Rebecca Han '10
News Reporter
Each year, a student can expect to spend hundreds of dollars at the school store on textbooks alone. The fact is, prices are rising for textbooks. Colleges all over the country are experiencing a similar phenomenon. The Washington Post reported that, according to the National Association of College Bookstores, wholesale prices of textbooks have risen nearly 40 percent in the past five years.
Some schools are not sitting back and watching things unfold. Several have taken an active stance to help reduce costs for students. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is trying to find effective strategies to reduce textbook prices. In a report, they list different sources of high prices: students, faculty, book stores, and publishers, among others. Then, the office plans to address each problem with possible solutions that may alleviate the heavy costs. Representatives and other officials in different states are challenging the high prices, according to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. For example, the state of Oregon is pushing a bill that will force the General Accounting Office to look into college textbook expenses.
No Convenient Alternatives
Some students buy their textbooks from the school store but chafe against the expenses. Alex Hillbrand ’08, a member of the Student Council, complains that he “bought a textbook that costs $200 at the bookstore, and the teacher still has to provide supplementary material.” Other students are taking their book-lists to online sources, such as Amazon.com, to purchase their textbooks at lower prices. Reductions can be as much as $25-35 dollars off each book. The savings could add up to a hundred dollars or more every year. Ashley Rinere ’10 said that “Buying all my books (about 4 major text books, and 8 smaller workbooks,and short novels) cost me half the price that it would have at the school store.”
Both approaches come with advantages and disadvantages. “The prices are pretty high, but the school store makes things much easier. For the kids who can take the initiative and buy their books online...it’s a great idea,” commented Hillbrand. While somewhat cheaper, buying books online can at times lead to a variety of problems. The shipping may be delayed, causing inconveniences in class before the textbook arrives. “My only problem was not being able to find one book online that would be shipped before two weeks,” reported Rinere. The shipment could turn out to be the wrong one. Jenny Wang ’09 said, “I buy online, but I really don’t like it. It’s just a hassle if you switch classes and stuff, but the high prices at the bookstore force me to.”
Departmental Cooperation
Academic departments and faculty do what they can to select the most appropriate textbooks, in terms of prices and content. “We try our best to balance all the factors,” said Mr. Tom White, Head of the HPRSS Department. To help with planning a year-long course, various publishers send in samples. A department committee then selects a textbook of a reasonable price and reasonable depth of content. They also attempt to select a textbook that will remain useful for a comparatively long period of time, so that students may resell used books for a partial refund. While the departments do not advocate buying textbooks online, Mr. Lawrence Stowe, Head of the Science Department, says, “We are willing to provide ISBN numbers for students who ask; we have nothing against it...I just tell students to be careful.”
Student Council members have spoken with the bookstore and with Mrs. Kathleen Wallace, the Dean of Academic Affairs. The Student Council has also turned to Mr. John Ford, Dean of Students, to discuss the possibility of “redirecting funds ‘wasted’ on unnecessary additions such as the new fences, and re-funneling the money into helping students pay for textbooks,” says Hillbrand. If the administration is unresponsive, the Student Council intends to take the initiative to help students obtain the books through an alternate provider, instead of the school store, according to Hillbrand. Other suggestions have been made as well: “Maybe we can reduce overhead costs at the bookstore by having students just go there in their free periods and work for community service hours,” Wang suggested.
