Page 28
Thursday, August 22, 2013
The University Daily Kansan
FINANCES
GEORGE MULLINIX/KANSAN
The average cost of a textbook has risen from $56 in 2007 to $68 in 2013, according to the National Association of College Students. Many students turn to online versions of textbooks, e-books and rented books, rather than purchasing new, to save money.
MEGHAN KETCHAM
mketcham@kansan.com
With the beginning of a new semester, students are readying themselves to purchase expensive yet required textbooks. Every year it seems the prices continually rise, pulling more cash from students' pockets. Whether they rent, purchase new books or search for used textbooks on sites such as Amazon, students are constantly looking for cheaper options to fund their education.
According to the National Association of College Students, the average price of a textbook has risen from $56 in 2007 to $68 in 2013. Last year, a student spent about $711 on average at the campus bookstore before turning to online resources to find textbooks.
Michelle Brox, a sophomore from Overland Park, said that finding textbooks online seems to be the best option for her.
"If I find out what books I need before the start of the semester, then I usually try to buy my textbooks from Amazon," she said. "If I wait until school starts, I'll get them from either the KU
Bookstore or the jayhawk Bookstore. I prefer buying them online because it's usually cheaper."
With prices rising, many students choose to rent their textbooks or purchase them used. The KU Bookstore offers several options to students in the store and online. Working with Verba, a price comparison company in San Francisco, the KU Bookstore allows students to find better options by comparing prices between new, used and rented books in just a few clicks.
Although students have the opportunity to find lower prices online, the KU Bookstore tries to offer fair prices as well.
"We understand that in some instances we simply can't compete with the online marketplace on some titles, but that doesn't prevent us from listing our prices side by side," James Rourke, assistant director of the KU Bookstore, said. "On average, our catalog is 75 percent competitive with the online marketplace."
"Every cost-saving option on textbooks will result in an increase of textbook prices for the consumer," Rourke said. "The owner of this intellectual property only gets paid on the sale of the new book."
Between rentals, used books and online price comparison, students have a variety of ways to save money. However, it is these money-saving options that are driving up prices. With fewer new textbook purchases, publishers are forced to increase costs.
"Knowledge should not cost so much to obtain."
Publishers are now adding access codes that expire at the end of each semester to combat the rentals and used books that are bringing down sales. This forces student to buy new books and to ultimately spend more money.
"I understand that people have to make money off of textbooks, but I would bet my life that the prices could drop and textbook companies would still be healthily running" Brox said. "Knowledge should not cost so much to obtain."
Although students have no control over publishers' prices, the University Student Senate representatives will use the upcoming year to offer students some reprieve from crippling textbook costs. One of Ad Astra's platforms in the spring
MICHELLE BROX Sophomore
election was to lower the cost of textbook prices by reducing and possibly eliminating the sales tax on higher education textbooks, hoping to save each student $90 each
semester.
Student Senate representatives made the issue known to Kansas lawmakers and hope for positive results when it is addressed in the next legislative session in Topeka.
"Students in the spring election voted for this legislative initiative," said Eric Hurt, Student Senate government relations director. "Lots of progress has been made this summer and we are very happy to report that our plan has the possibility of becoming a legislative issue in the next session in Topeka."
Hoping to save students money, student body president Marcus Tetwiler said he's optimistic about the efforts of Student Senate to lobby the state legislature.
"This will ultimately make textbooks cheaper," said Tetwiler, a senior from Paola. "This will act as benefit, and a sustainable long term relief, for students in a changing higher education environment."
Between KU Bookstore's efforts to offer bargain options for students and Student Senate's initiative to eliminate the sales tax on textbooks, it seems that there may be a cheaper future in textbook expenditures for students.
— Edited by Dylan Lysen
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