By Gionna Bean, Opinion Editor
Books about Thomas Aquinas – Photo by Gionna Bean
“I’ll cry about it in five years,” freshman Addison Munn said.
Munn was referring to the price of books for her classes. Like most students, she will have to pay off her college expenses years down the road encompassing tuition, room, board and— yes those dreaded books.
The tuition, room and board are unavoidable expenses, and one signs up to pay for the institution when applying to go to college; however, the substantial price of books, for many students, comes as a shock. Many even turn to alternative avenues, such as online pdfs to avoid paying the hefty price.
“I think the prices of books are high and I usually try to find a pdf online or a cheap used book,” freshman Morgan Foune said. “We already pay for tuition and I feel like the costs of books should be included or there should be a discount code.”
When students are in multiple classes with high priced books, the financial stress is multiplied.
“I’m in public speaking, accounting, international marketing, economics for the citizens and spreadsheets,” Munn said. “For just two of these classes the software and books were over $325, so I think the prices of books and software are absolutely absurd.”
For classes such as accounting, the added expense of software loads extra financial stress on students already struggling to afford the books. To add to the frustration, many software programs are only used for a semester before they are not needed anymore, with prices averaging $150-$180.
Munn explained that at her former community college, the college included the books in the tuition, which relieved her burden greatly. The tuition did not increase because of this, but instead stayed fairly consistent due to the fact that when schools buy in bulk the book lenders tend to sell on a discount.
While buying in bulk presents a potential solution, professors are currently attempting to ease the money tension themselves.
The price of books concerns many students – Photo by Gionna Bean
“Over the last several years, science faculty have been making an effort to reduce the costs of books that are required for their classes,” Chairperson of the Department of Biology and Health Science Dr. Jennifer Hess said. “For example, CHEM121 required a free online textbook for a few years. In other classes we require older editions of textbooks so students can purchase used books or use the same textbook for multiple courses across semesters to reduce book prices.”
The struggle is not just between students and textbooks, but rather it is a united struggle between textbooks and the entire college. It is uncertain how or if the issue will ever be resolved, and book prices don’t appear to be a pain in the side that will leave anytime soon.
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