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As a nontraditional college student not living at home with my parents, the cost of textbooks can really hit my budget hard. A lot of the textbooks I’ve purchased have required supplemental texts and CDs that I’ve never used. There has to be a better way.

Sharon Thompson, Highlands Ranch

READER COMMENTS

Shhh - never question the educational establishment they will hunt you down

how else can those under paid college profs make a living if they dont charge so much for the books they create?

I remember when my husband was going to The University of Maryland. You could buy the books used or new.

When he was done with the books he brought them back to the college book store and was given some of his money back.

Why can't the colleges in Colorado implement the same system. Reusing books would save the students and colleges.

What is a student going to do with a textbook after they graduate anyway.

Why not recycle them at the college book store?

CIGAA,

There is indeed such a system in Colorado. The problem is, every year, more textbooks are "updated" and made into a new edition of the textbook, rendering the earlier version worthless. The vast majority of these "updated" textbooks have exceedingly small and/or inconsequential chanes made to them, but nevertheless, a new edition comes out anyway. This is why used books are so hard to find.

If you ask a professor who authors one of these textbooks how much money they recieve from each textbook sold, they will typically give you a reply that is 10% or less of the price of a new textbook at the good ol' campus bookstore. Have any idea where the rest of the money goes?

In short, students are viewed as a captive audience, and is charged accordingly. Rising book costs, ever-increasing student fees (many of which are for things the average student would never use, for instance, I had to pay for the Women's Center when I attended UNC, even though I was definitely unwelcome at the usually empty center simply due to the fact that I happen to be male), and skyrocketing tuition costs (due to cheapskate taxpayers who steadfastly refuse to adequately fund STATE colleges and universities, to the ultimate detriment of the health of the entire state) are what is pushing more and more people into debt when they try to better their life. The levels of debt are not small by any means, and the only way to escape the loans, short of paying them of course, is to die. Student loans are not even close to a credit card bill.

Closer government regulation of the student textbook industry is necessary, as is closer oversight of student fees, and higher amounts of state money going to state universities to keep tuition rates in check. Would this increase the size of government? I couldn't care less. A person should NEVER be penalized for trying to better their lot in life.

Sharon,
As a recent graduate in a non-traditional program, let me say that I understand your frustration. Try going on line to Amazon, and half.com. They both sell used books and supplimental materials.
Believe me I feel your pain! 6 years and a Master's worth of pain.

Well it would be nice to see students protesting a change in the system of buying books and the paying off of professors,than protesting their rights to smoke pot or some other crazy thing , don't you think?

CIGAA,

Or maybe protesting all of the above, and much more!! College students are not monolithic, and they definitely are not high school students. What is true is that too many of them are apathetic, and willing to take whatever is thrown at them without even a whimper. Complacency is the real menace, and protests of any sort help to break that apathy. With participation by people eligible to vote in the US shamefully low, young people need to be engaged in, if not leading, debates on many issues facing this country. No matter how "silly" the issues may appear. Protests, letter-writing campaigns, wider circulation of petitions, etc. are what is needed to get young people more involved from the time they are able to legally cast a ballot. To do otherwise is to allow special interests (be they textbook publishers, anti-marijuana advocates, or whatever) and the well-connected (Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Timber, etc) to continue to dominate the political realm.

There is no law that says you have to go to a university...if you want a good education, get a library card...those books you can read for free...

Or if you are an illegal alien you can get them for free - or at least in-state tuition

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