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Some students are already back at school while others are busy enjoying the last few days of their summer holidays. However, book lovers and people who are serious about education are about to face an annual dilemma: what do you do about the insane price of textbooks?
Knowledge might be power and learning is loads of fun, but when books cost more than your rent or the amount of money you spend on food each week, there’s a big problem, as people on Twitter are finding out after social media user Mr. Higgins started a viral thread on the topic. And the problem gets bigger when you realize that you’ll most likely use a particular book just for one class and that’s it.
To get you in the right mood for the new school year, have a read through people's complaints about the ridiculous prices of textbooks on Twitter. Upvote your fave tweets and let us know how you solved the textbook issue in school, dear Pandas! To learn about the alternatives to buying new expensive textbooks, Bored Panda reached out to Richard Davies from AbeBooks.com. Scroll down for his insights.
This post may include affiliate links.
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#3
wandile dludlu 4 years ago
It's so sad... in Africa, we copy these books. Can't be paying so much for a book that has been making profit for 20 years, just 2 page revisions. The whole class once bought one book and made 50 copies
Davies from AbeBooks.com told us that the best way to save money when shopping for textbooks is to buy used copies instead of books fresh off the presses. "They will be substantially cheaper," he pointed out that this way students can save a lot of money.
"Textbooks are regularly reissued by publishers in new editions. Ask your tutor if you need the latest edition," Davies gave some further advice.
"If you are studying something like calculus, a subject that doesn’t change, then an older edition may work for you. You can find used and older editions by using marketplaces such as AbeBooks.com. Search by ISBN to find an exact edition, but search by title and author to find all editions," he said.
#6
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
See, an anatomy book is something you’d think a student would keep, especially if it’s going to be useful in their career. So you’d think they’d make it more substantial—-or at least sell it with a good, sturdy binder included!
Even if you can’t get the textbooks that you need, your teachers and professors still expect you to do your work on time. That means that some people are busy fighting over the last remaining library copy of that book you totally need for Econ 101 while others are photocopying hundreds of pages and learning the lost art of bookbinding by hand.
Meanwhile, others turn to the internet for help. Internet piracy isn’t something to be celebrated, but some people end up downloading illegal PDFs so they don’t have to choose between books and food. Fortunately, there are legitimate e-book services that solve the problem with free trials.
There’s also the ability to rent physical or digital copies, as well as the previously mentioned possibility to purchase secondhand copies that might not look brand new but cost far less than new copies.
#9
This is a summary of college only using two pictures; expensive as hell.
That’s my Sociology “book”. In fact what it is is a piece of paper with codes written on it to allow me to access an electronic version of a book. I was told by my professor that I could not buy any other paperback version, or use another code, so I was left with no option other than buying a piece of paper for over $200. Best part about all this is my professor wrote the books; there’s something hilariously sadistic about that. So I pretty much doled out $200 for a current edition of an online textbook that is no different than an older, paperback edition of the same book for $5; yeah, I checked. My mistake for listening to my professor.
This is why we download
Vox writes that the cost of textbooks between 2006 and 2016 has increased by a head-spinning 88 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, the College Board suggests that students put aside around 1,200 dollars for books and other supplies for college. That’s a huge sum for anyone, but especially for somebody with low income.
That means that students end up plain ignoring some required reading and, as a result, their grades suffer. Sure, textbook publishers need to make a living and its vital to support the academics who put in their blood, sweat, and tears into turning their research into college texts. However, with college fees being as high as they are, studying can seem much more expensive than at first glance.
#10
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
And can’t sell back, or even use it once the semester’s over. Yeah, I hated the access code “workbooks”.
#11
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Before my financial aid money came in, I went on,I even and got the ballpark price for my textbooks. Once I had my money, I budgeted for everything, with a little cushion in case of price increases. Luckily, my school paid out financial aid the week before classes started, instead of up to two weeks after like some schools do.
#14
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
It IS a massive money-making scam. However, in most industries, you can kiss your chances of promotion goodbye if you don’t have a college degree—-even if you can do the job better in your sleep than the frat rat who got it instead of you can do it wide awake and with help. They just don’t “grandfather” experienced but uncredentialed employees into management positions anymore.
#17
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago
Smart, as long as you made sure the pdf is the version the instructor is using.
#20
Kathryn Baylis 4 years ago (edited)
Then don’t. Scan the sample copy they sent you, plus any other materials your students will need to read, and upload them to MyClasses, Blackboard, or whatever online learning management site your school uses. It’s not an unheard of practice for “additional” reading materials an instructor prefers to use but which may be out of date.
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What do you think ?
Kirsten Kerkhof 4 years ago (edited)
I don't charge my students anything. I put all the books online, tell them they can print those themselves, and ask they keep their mouths shut about it in return. They just need to pay $30 for the online exam training which is out of my control.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
This is great if on one checks for some kind of copyright violation or no one rats you out. Course packets are a cheaper alternative as are choosing cheaper text books. Its also possible for the prof to put text books on hold in the library ( which students can then xerox)
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Milan 4 years ago
Ou yeah, "Look, capitalism. Capitalism everywhere... " :) I am not mention, that universities and schools in Slovakia are public and for free :)
El Dee 4 years ago
Yes, ours too. Capitalism seems to want to limit access to learning, that would seem to be the opposite of a good idea..
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Monday 4 years ago
This seems like an American problem. Yes my uni textbooks were expensive here in South Africa too, but we used those books in class every day and if you really couldn't afford it you could borrow a copy from the library (provided you were fast enough since there were limited library supplies).
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
At least a couple of these photos are from Australia
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Laugh or not 4 years ago
I got a master degree in biological science in France. I never had to by a book (except the one year I spend in Dänemark for Erasmus). All my teachers did their own courses and if some assignment required additional reading, the university library had some copies that could NOT be borrowed and were always available on site.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
What can I say: It's just one of those purely US problems which could have been solved if the US citizens had voted other people than crooks, fraudsters, conmen and opportunists into government.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
It’s not just the US, textbooks are super expensive in Australia too.
Load More Replies... Wibbi 4 years ago (edited)
I teach at a university in Germany. I never require my students to buy books. All the material I use is either accessible for free online or can be accessed using a campus license our university purchased. The students have to pay around 400€ each semester. That's already enough in my opinion, so I'd never force them to buy some overpriced book. Plus, the really interesting stuff or rather the relevant stuff normally isn't covered in textbooks - at least not with the really current information. Since it can take about a year to be published, the information can already be too old in my field. It'd be a waste of money.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
This. This is the sane way! However, in some courses a text book can be the sane choice. E.g. if the book will be a useful reference for more than the one class, like basic maths. Or when the book can be resold.
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Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago (edited)
When I taught, I used the same book for 20 years. The book company reps hated me, but they couldn't force me to use a new edition, when the old one worked fine. I mean, it's history, not computer science, so nothing's new, right? Also, older texts require professors to be up-to-date on the latest changes in the field (I always was). The textbook, new, in 1998, was $12. By 2010, the same edition was $45 new. So, find used ones online. By 2018, my last year in the classroom, the book was often $1 online. Also, I made sure that the library had a copy of every textbook that I assigned. I had to use a new text in 2003, as the previous textbook was totally unavailable (yes, I couldn't do much about that). By 2013, when that textbook went out-of-print, I bought all the used copies online for the classes, and asked only for my cost, which was usually shipping alone. There are ways of doing this, but most professors don't want to take the time necessary to help the students. -Dr M, retired
Electric Ed 4 years ago
TBH, that would work pretty well for CS too. Languages come and go, principles stay. And most were figured out back in the 70s already. Some small updates...
Load More Replies... Aman Varkkey 4 years ago (edited)
My school had a simple solution. Buy the textbook and give it to students for a year. At the end of the year they are returned to the respective departments. It was like each department had its own library.
Scyth 4 years ago
Why are these books so expensive? From an economic standpoint, it doesn't make any sense. If the books would be cheaper, more people would buy them and go to colleges, and less people would illegally copy or steal these books. Or do the professors and the writers of these books demand the prices?
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Textbook authors aren't paid much. The prestige is in having your name in the dang thing. Co-authored a chapter, so I learned that the hard way. The publishers have ot pay out big for the detailed images, charts, etc., (yes, even in "arts" books), so charge huge b/c of that, not necessarily paying authors/p;rofessors/etc.
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Łukasz Markuszewski 4 years ago
During my uni time (Poland) we had this English teacher who forced us to buy a textbook for 25$ ('special discount', as she said, but still a lot of money for Polish student then, especially when I was paying all my bills by myself and worked my a*s out to cover it), and she said that we can't pass the class if we'll not do some on-line activities available under key code in this book. Of course after we all paid for the books she never mentioned books or code or any activities from it. We literally never opened them. She had a contract with publisher and was getting money for each copy sold. I will never forget you, greedy Dorota H. from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
Sad. Our sympathies. I freely photocopied my own work for the students, when I did assign it. No cost to them.
Load More Replies... El Dee 4 years ago
America sure is expensive for education. In my country books used to be free but now there's a charge (for new books) but at least degree courses are free so it's literally your only 'big' cost..
Kines Tezja 4 years ago
Aaand another reason to be grateful that I don't live in US. I have 2 faculties, I had to buy 0 books for studying + my studies were completely free.
Kate 4 years ago
I minored in English and more than one of my professors told us to go to the local book chain in town and buy the $10 Penguin editions from them because while they told the bookstore on campus which books to order, they didn't get to control what version of the book got ordered, which coincidentally was always the most expensive, hardcover version (when there was a plethora of cheap paperback versions available).
John Louis 4 years ago
Colleges have been raising the prices of everything far outpacing inflation because they can. There is no greater example of exploitive, immoral capitalism than the modern-day American public or private College and University System.
Truth Monster 4 years ago
This isn't greedy capitalism, this is the intersect of government loans/grants and unscrupulous capitalism. Why care about your customer when they have to buy it and you're guaranteed a baseline of sales from the government?
Mindaugas Arnašius 4 years ago
1. You pay ridiculous price for the college and then you have to pay extra for textbooks!!!???. 2. Is there some kind of secondary market for used books? Or you are "forced" to buy new only?
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
Textbook costs are ridiculous especially since many books you can’t use the following year as they are deemed outdated. My brother spent over $2000 on text books when he was at Uni and all of them are now useless.
Katinka Min 4 years ago
Another one of those posts that allows the rest of us to just be incredibly glad we don't live in this clusterf*ck that is the US. Uni textbooks are not super cheap, here, but they are certainly not in the three digit range. Oh, and free tuition. Go Germany!
Naomi Williams 4 years ago
It's been like this for decades. I went to Fullerton College 1977-1981, and I remember the text books costing anywhere from 20-40 bucks back then when the minimum wage was $2.50, and there was NO INTERNET or on-line bookstores to order from. If you didn't race to the bookstore as soon as you got your list, you were just s**t out of luck.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
Ooooh, I taught at Cypress for 20+ years. Go hornets! Did you also go to CSUF?
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Jeff Requier 4 years ago
I am in Canada and they are expensive, I work at a College and students have said they passed courses with out ever buy books
Ian Smith 4 years ago
I graduated in 2002. Books were in the range of $150 to 200 then too. I quickly learned to roll the dice and start classes without the text. The majority of the time everything was lecture based any way. Just another higher education scam.
Howard Moody 4 years ago
I worked in a University bookstore. What happens is the publisher changes one or two pages puts a new cover on it and calls it a new edition. The professor insists on only the new edition can be used. The old editions are now worthless and can't be sold back , the publisher makes a killing and the professor gets a kickback.
Csaba Hegedűs 4 years ago
In Hungary I went too university for six years, and I think if I had bought every book we needed, I wouldn't have spent more than $1000 overall. It means about $83 per semester. $200 per textbook is more than predatory.
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
Survival tips for broke students: 1) as soon as you get the book list, borrow them all from the library. 2) use your smart phone to photograph what you need. 3) return the books the next day. 4) if buying books 2nd hand, sell them DIRECTLY to other student (via facebook / IG / noticeboards at university....) 5) always assume you'll have to buy these books & have the money saved in advance. 6) have coffee on hand to survive uni days - because unless you're doing an "arts" degree, you're going to be busy, tired, & broke for a few years (at least)
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
I worked in libraries for 3 of my degrees. This works.
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Neill Powell 4 years ago
America's College system is catastrophically flawed it's a travesty that Students still go to them in the US, My physics book has over 1800 pages in it and covers 4 years of 'varsity in it. Cost? About $60. Big red warning on the cover "NOT FOR SALE IN THE US" Why, the EXACT SAME BOOK is sold as 7 volumes at $130 each. EXACT SAME CONTENT. Page for page, identical.
Susanne Marie Ward 4 years ago
It is completely ridiculous how much they have always charged for text books that you will not likely use again once the course is over and the pay out for selling or returning them is so meager.
Courtney Christelle 4 years ago
Older folks: Why didn't you finish college? Us: Because we couldn't afford the books/materials. Older folks: And who's fault is that? Us: *holds up mirror*
Ann McNeil 4 years ago
I can see a benefit in the loose-leaf copies: just put them into a three-ringed binder, then you can insert any hand-outs or extra materials you've been given. No loose sheets of paper falling out of everywhere. But there should be a drastic reduction in price for unbound books. I know when my son took his computer course at our local community college, his books cost around $700. They just sit around the house now collecting dust.
Olli Glx 4 years ago
It's a perverse world. I was a bookseller in a German bookstore. We sold American books a lot cheaper in Germany than American booksellers in America. Our editions had a warning written on them that they could only be sold outside of America. Hence the considerably lower prices on identical books. Like only a tenth of the price!
Lindsey Judd-Bruder 4 years ago (edited)
(1/3) The first time I went to college, I had a scholarship the first year, and financial aid the next semester. As I was still living at home at the time, my parents paid the remainder, which was our agreement. Then I went through a very rough patch in life, and dropped out. And my mother was still paying off the original student loan she and my dad took out, years later. And that is is one of the reasons I've never gone back. Even with financial aid, it's just too damn expensive. Besides that, college is just not as important as it was, back in our parents' days. Back then, it was a guaranteed ticket to a high paying job. These days, I know people who came in off the street, at certain places, and start out making more than some of the college grads I know. And they are not saddled with debt. I mean, yeah, if you wanna be a doctor a lawyer or a CEO or something, of course you need a college degree. But you don't have to have one, to still live a good life.
Lindsey Judd-Bruder 4 years ago
(2/3) Myself, I manage a restaurant. I love the work. I have a cozy little home, with a shared neighborhood lot where my son has plenty of room to play with his friends. I have a nice car. I have plenty of food in my cupboards, and I can take my family out to eat a couple times a month, if I want to. My son has plenty of toys. I have a couple months' worth of money saved in the bank. And I have absolutely zero debt whatsoever. Plus, I have the security of being able to quit my job, if I need to, and find another one in the same industry easily, because people gotta eat. I don't have to feel trapped in a job or a career I hate, or stuck in a limited field, because I put so much time and money into getting there. No, I don't have a big house, or an iPhone 10, or a sports car, or a lot of nice jewelry. My son's video game systems aren't the latest greatest. But I don't need any of that. Nor does my family. We have each other. And we're happy. For us, that's enough. That's all we need.
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Steve Cruz 4 years ago
A neighbor worked at a used book store near a college and they threw out tons of textbooks. He got permission to box and take them home, listed them on eBay and Amazon, and sold almost 100% of them. There is a phone app for scanning barcodes to populate the listing. He made $1000s every semester.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 4 years ago
I first went to college in 1969, first degree in 1988, second degree 2014. There are websites where you can borrow college textbooks or purchase used ones which they will buy back. Mailing materials included. Some you can get as an ebook which will save a massage amount, but you often cannot resell it to the supplier or other students. The argument used to be that special typesetting was required for math, science and foreign language textbooks, but that is no longer the case. I could sort of see it in 1969, but now? Gotta be kidding me. And those books with "special" study guides online? Waste of time and money.
Jeff Requier 4 years ago
Bull s**t, I work at a College and most students say they never went in for texts books and passed
Snober 4 years ago (edited)
The more I read about America, the more I realize that being born in a country like India is a blessing. We have lot of problems here but unaffordable education ain't one. Since when I can remember, govt schools here distribute text books for free, that cover the entire curriculum. Also in higher classes you can buy used and fresh books at reasonable prices mostly. You don't necessarily need to buy books from college/school/universities itself. You can buy it from anywhere eg local bookshops, online etc. Also, we have something called mid-day meal plan since long now. Govt. Schools provide students with free lunch, which mostly comprises of local cuisine and not one type of meal for all. We have diversity there too. If you are hardworking and lucky enough to bypass the coaching mafia (private classes) you can get into Engineering, Med schools, or any A-grade university for a minimum fee of 10000INR i.e 138 US dollars anually. We too are battling capitalism but our former statesmen and leaders have ensured that we get best of things that mean the most-medical care and education. I pity Americans
Jan Kovář 4 years ago
I do not understand this. When I was in US, there were so many advertisements for attorneys suing everyone for everything. Why are there not yet attorneys suing teaches for forcing students to buy books they did not need for prices that are ridiculous? It seems like fraud to me.
Gogubaci 4 years ago
Dear americans, please explain again why you think your country is so great? After all these posts here about how bad education, healthcare and other things are over there, US looks like a giant ripoff and you're probably better off in Easter Europe.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
I didn't. It was them. Um, suggestions on where to move in Eastern Europe?
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Cat 4 years ago
Went to uni in the UK. Don't remember any of my lecturers and professors recommend a book they wrote, and several of them were published authors. A few of their books were on the reading list but there were usually copies available in the library. I'm sorry that students in the US have to put up with such unprofessional and unethical behaviors
Riani Kivela 4 years ago
My undergraduate University rented textbooks. I paid around $90 total each semester for books and returned them at the end of the semester. And when the books were updated, they'd sell the old ones for like $5 each if you want them for reference. It wasn't until I went to another University that I realized how amazing the book rentals were.
PoAngielsku 4 years ago
Am I the only one wondering why e.g. 4 students to put their money together to buy a book together then share it with each other?! 4 students = 4 books for the price of 1. They're complaining that college isn't for them because of the price of books --- maybe college isn't for them because they're not smart enough.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
That works easiest when 1st student sells book to 2nd student who take the course the following years, and so on to 3rd and 4th.
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Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Book cost: $125 in 1988. My funds: $0. Begged, borrowed, and begged more to borrow classmates' textbooks. Because I could buy the book o reat for two months.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Note: That was one textbook. Average yearly cost of books for me back then was easliy $1K a year. Before med school.Yikes.
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Aunt Messy 4 years ago
When I went to university in the '80s, I spent about $1500.00 per semester on books. In today's dollars, that's $3600.00 in 2020 dollars. This is a LONG way from new. Books have always been ridiculously expensive.
lara 4 years ago
Actually, no. I saved all my textbooks. I took five classes one semester, and my total bill was 168 bucks. They were all new texts and that was 1973.
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Malene 4 years ago
Now this is ot about the price, but there was once a syllabus that consisted of a DISCONTINUED book ... There were 45 copies left at the university shop, but we were over 350 students. When they discovered the problem, we got a little apology, but they still wanted it as part of the syllabus and exam.
Andrew Bridge 4 years ago
For those prices them books better take me to class, not just sit there like non criminally priced books
Radek Suski 4 years ago
I still don't understand the difference between US and EU when it comes to that. Not only my prof would never require a book from us that is not in sufficient numbers in the library, even if (s)he would recommend a book you could still pass without it because all essential stuff would be provided to us for free. And frankly there are not many books that are more expensive than some 50 Euros
Beeps 4 years ago
This is actually where Amazon really helped me out and why I fell out of love with real-life bookshops: during uni, I needed to buy a textbook for one of my main essays. It wasn’t a set text, but you had a choice of 2 books you could use. They were each around £400 and not something that bookshops kept in stock even in a big uni town. I asked my local bookshop if it was possible to order them both in, so I could have a look at them and decide which one was more appropriate for my project and buy that one. Their answer was a firm: “No, if we order them for you, you have to pay for them!” (So that would have been £800 for 2 books when I only needed 1 of them.) I’m not even sure how this is legal under UK consumer law, as surely this should fall under distance selling regulations, as you’re buying something unseen. It was the last time I’ve set foot into a high street bookshop, and all of my books have come from Amazon ever since, as at least there you’re covered by distance selling regs.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
I'm surprised the library couldn't get them for you through Inter Library Loan
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Gaurav Beck 4 years ago
Now that's something young people should protest for rather than being edgy SJW
lara 4 years ago
OK, first of all, your "professors" are all getting a cut on these books as is the department. Second, generally there is a used college textbook group that has your books for much lower, Ask around. Generally all "new" textbooks, unless physics, are nothing but the original textbook with a new intro. Thus an earlier edition works just fine. This attempt to tag this as "capitalism" run amok is being done by all your "socialist friendly professors" who are getting a cut. You can go to the library and copy the textbooks. It will cost you, but it will be cheaper. And finally, ten people make a study group, one copy of the book purchased, then copied nine times and voila, everyone has a copy.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
"unless physics" - lol. Quick: name one new discovery in physics since WWII!
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Corinne Frankenhoff 4 years ago
My books this semester were $300. And only 3 of my 5 classes required books. It's ridiculous. These aren't even new, it's rent used.
Eunice Probert 4 years ago
I bought all the books on the list for a creative writing class, only to be told on the first day that we were to make up our own book lists. I didn't need any of the books I had bought.
Demi Zwaan 4 years ago
And then you go and vote for someone who will not change this at all... second world country, USA.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
Textbook costs are ridiculous in Australia also, so not just a US problem.
Load More Replies... Yeah, you heard 4 years ago
Can't help but notice that all these suns of money are preceded by the dollar sign: It's an American problem. That said, students complaining about never using their textbooks, that's your own fault. Use it!!
Dan H 4 years ago
Books can be rented on Amazon for a fraction of the cost. My kids have done this for years.
Jeff Requier 4 years ago
dont be giving negative likes because he speaks the truth
Load More Replies... Kirsten Kerkhof 4 years ago (edited)
I don't charge my students anything. I put all the books online, tell them they can print those themselves, and ask they keep their mouths shut about it in return. They just need to pay $30 for the online exam training which is out of my control.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
This is great if on one checks for some kind of copyright violation or no one rats you out. Course packets are a cheaper alternative as are choosing cheaper text books. Its also possible for the prof to put text books on hold in the library ( which students can then xerox)
Load More Replies... Milan 4 years ago
Ou yeah, "Look, capitalism. Capitalism everywhere... " :) I am not mention, that universities and schools in Slovakia are public and for free :)
El Dee 4 years ago
Yes, ours too. Capitalism seems to want to limit access to learning, that would seem to be the opposite of a good idea..
Load More Replies... Monday 4 years ago
This seems like an American problem. Yes my uni textbooks were expensive here in South Africa too, but we used those books in class every day and if you really couldn't afford it you could borrow a copy from the library (provided you were fast enough since there were limited library supplies).
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
At least a couple of these photos are from Australia
Load More Replies... Laugh or not 4 years ago
I got a master degree in biological science in France. I never had to by a book (except the one year I spend in Dänemark for Erasmus). All my teachers did their own courses and if some assignment required additional reading, the university library had some copies that could NOT be borrowed and were always available on site.
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
What can I say: It's just one of those purely US problems which could have been solved if the US citizens had voted other people than crooks, fraudsters, conmen and opportunists into government.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
It’s not just the US, textbooks are super expensive in Australia too.
Load More Replies... Wibbi 4 years ago (edited)
I teach at a university in Germany. I never require my students to buy books. All the material I use is either accessible for free online or can be accessed using a campus license our university purchased. The students have to pay around 400€ each semester. That's already enough in my opinion, so I'd never force them to buy some overpriced book. Plus, the really interesting stuff or rather the relevant stuff normally isn't covered in textbooks - at least not with the really current information. Since it can take about a year to be published, the information can already be too old in my field. It'd be a waste of money.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
This. This is the sane way! However, in some courses a text book can be the sane choice. E.g. if the book will be a useful reference for more than the one class, like basic maths. Or when the book can be resold.
Load More Replies... Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago (edited)
When I taught, I used the same book for 20 years. The book company reps hated me, but they couldn't force me to use a new edition, when the old one worked fine. I mean, it's history, not computer science, so nothing's new, right? Also, older texts require professors to be up-to-date on the latest changes in the field (I always was). The textbook, new, in 1998, was $12. By 2010, the same edition was $45 new. So, find used ones online. By 2018, my last year in the classroom, the book was often $1 online. Also, I made sure that the library had a copy of every textbook that I assigned. I had to use a new text in 2003, as the previous textbook was totally unavailable (yes, I couldn't do much about that). By 2013, when that textbook went out-of-print, I bought all the used copies online for the classes, and asked only for my cost, which was usually shipping alone. There are ways of doing this, but most professors don't want to take the time necessary to help the students. -Dr M, retired
Electric Ed 4 years ago
TBH, that would work pretty well for CS too. Languages come and go, principles stay. And most were figured out back in the 70s already. Some small updates...
Load More Replies... Aman Varkkey 4 years ago (edited)
My school had a simple solution. Buy the textbook and give it to students for a year. At the end of the year they are returned to the respective departments. It was like each department had its own library.
Scyth 4 years ago
Why are these books so expensive? From an economic standpoint, it doesn't make any sense. If the books would be cheaper, more people would buy them and go to colleges, and less people would illegally copy or steal these books. Or do the professors and the writers of these books demand the prices?
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Textbook authors aren't paid much. The prestige is in having your name in the dang thing. Co-authored a chapter, so I learned that the hard way. The publishers have ot pay out big for the detailed images, charts, etc., (yes, even in "arts" books), so charge huge b/c of that, not necessarily paying authors/p;rofessors/etc.
Load More Replies... Łukasz Markuszewski 4 years ago
During my uni time (Poland) we had this English teacher who forced us to buy a textbook for 25$ ('special discount', as she said, but still a lot of money for Polish student then, especially when I was paying all my bills by myself and worked my a*s out to cover it), and she said that we can't pass the class if we'll not do some on-line activities available under key code in this book. Of course after we all paid for the books she never mentioned books or code or any activities from it. We literally never opened them. She had a contract with publisher and was getting money for each copy sold. I will never forget you, greedy Dorota H. from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
Sad. Our sympathies. I freely photocopied my own work for the students, when I did assign it. No cost to them.
Load More Replies... El Dee 4 years ago
America sure is expensive for education. In my country books used to be free but now there's a charge (for new books) but at least degree courses are free so it's literally your only 'big' cost..
Kines Tezja 4 years ago
Aaand another reason to be grateful that I don't live in US. I have 2 faculties, I had to buy 0 books for studying + my studies were completely free.
Kate 4 years ago
I minored in English and more than one of my professors told us to go to the local book chain in town and buy the $10 Penguin editions from them because while they told the bookstore on campus which books to order, they didn't get to control what version of the book got ordered, which coincidentally was always the most expensive, hardcover version (when there was a plethora of cheap paperback versions available).
John Louis 4 years ago
Colleges have been raising the prices of everything far outpacing inflation because they can. There is no greater example of exploitive, immoral capitalism than the modern-day American public or private College and University System.
Truth Monster 4 years ago
This isn't greedy capitalism, this is the intersect of government loans/grants and unscrupulous capitalism. Why care about your customer when they have to buy it and you're guaranteed a baseline of sales from the government?
Mindaugas Arnašius 4 years ago
1. You pay ridiculous price for the college and then you have to pay extra for textbooks!!!???. 2. Is there some kind of secondary market for used books? Or you are "forced" to buy new only?
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
Textbook costs are ridiculous especially since many books you can’t use the following year as they are deemed outdated. My brother spent over $2000 on text books when he was at Uni and all of them are now useless.
Katinka Min 4 years ago
Another one of those posts that allows the rest of us to just be incredibly glad we don't live in this clusterf*ck that is the US. Uni textbooks are not super cheap, here, but they are certainly not in the three digit range. Oh, and free tuition. Go Germany!
Naomi Williams 4 years ago
It's been like this for decades. I went to Fullerton College 1977-1981, and I remember the text books costing anywhere from 20-40 bucks back then when the minimum wage was $2.50, and there was NO INTERNET or on-line bookstores to order from. If you didn't race to the bookstore as soon as you got your list, you were just s**t out of luck.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
Ooooh, I taught at Cypress for 20+ years. Go hornets! Did you also go to CSUF?
Load More Replies... Jeff Requier 4 years ago
I am in Canada and they are expensive, I work at a College and students have said they passed courses with out ever buy books
Ian Smith 4 years ago
I graduated in 2002. Books were in the range of $150 to 200 then too. I quickly learned to roll the dice and start classes without the text. The majority of the time everything was lecture based any way. Just another higher education scam.
Howard Moody 4 years ago
I worked in a University bookstore. What happens is the publisher changes one or two pages puts a new cover on it and calls it a new edition. The professor insists on only the new edition can be used. The old editions are now worthless and can't be sold back , the publisher makes a killing and the professor gets a kickback.
Csaba Hegedűs 4 years ago
In Hungary I went too university for six years, and I think if I had bought every book we needed, I wouldn't have spent more than $1000 overall. It means about $83 per semester. $200 per textbook is more than predatory.
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
Survival tips for broke students: 1) as soon as you get the book list, borrow them all from the library. 2) use your smart phone to photograph what you need. 3) return the books the next day. 4) if buying books 2nd hand, sell them DIRECTLY to other student (via facebook / IG / noticeboards at university....) 5) always assume you'll have to buy these books & have the money saved in advance. 6) have coffee on hand to survive uni days - because unless you're doing an "arts" degree, you're going to be busy, tired, & broke for a few years (at least)
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
I worked in libraries for 3 of my degrees. This works.
Load More Replies... Neill Powell 4 years ago
America's College system is catastrophically flawed it's a travesty that Students still go to them in the US, My physics book has over 1800 pages in it and covers 4 years of 'varsity in it. Cost? About $60. Big red warning on the cover "NOT FOR SALE IN THE US" Why, the EXACT SAME BOOK is sold as 7 volumes at $130 each. EXACT SAME CONTENT. Page for page, identical.
Susanne Marie Ward 4 years ago
It is completely ridiculous how much they have always charged for text books that you will not likely use again once the course is over and the pay out for selling or returning them is so meager.
Courtney Christelle 4 years ago
Older folks: Why didn't you finish college? Us: Because we couldn't afford the books/materials. Older folks: And who's fault is that? Us: *holds up mirror*
Ann McNeil 4 years ago
I can see a benefit in the loose-leaf copies: just put them into a three-ringed binder, then you can insert any hand-outs or extra materials you've been given. No loose sheets of paper falling out of everywhere. But there should be a drastic reduction in price for unbound books. I know when my son took his computer course at our local community college, his books cost around $700. They just sit around the house now collecting dust.
Olli Glx 4 years ago
It's a perverse world. I was a bookseller in a German bookstore. We sold American books a lot cheaper in Germany than American booksellers in America. Our editions had a warning written on them that they could only be sold outside of America. Hence the considerably lower prices on identical books. Like only a tenth of the price!
Lindsey Judd-Bruder 4 years ago (edited)
(1/3) The first time I went to college, I had a scholarship the first year, and financial aid the next semester. As I was still living at home at the time, my parents paid the remainder, which was our agreement. Then I went through a very rough patch in life, and dropped out. And my mother was still paying off the original student loan she and my dad took out, years later. And that is is one of the reasons I've never gone back. Even with financial aid, it's just too damn expensive. Besides that, college is just not as important as it was, back in our parents' days. Back then, it was a guaranteed ticket to a high paying job. These days, I know people who came in off the street, at certain places, and start out making more than some of the college grads I know. And they are not saddled with debt. I mean, yeah, if you wanna be a doctor a lawyer or a CEO or something, of course you need a college degree. But you don't have to have one, to still live a good life.
Lindsey Judd-Bruder 4 years ago
(2/3) Myself, I manage a restaurant. I love the work. I have a cozy little home, with a shared neighborhood lot where my son has plenty of room to play with his friends. I have a nice car. I have plenty of food in my cupboards, and I can take my family out to eat a couple times a month, if I want to. My son has plenty of toys. I have a couple months' worth of money saved in the bank. And I have absolutely zero debt whatsoever. Plus, I have the security of being able to quit my job, if I need to, and find another one in the same industry easily, because people gotta eat. I don't have to feel trapped in a job or a career I hate, or stuck in a limited field, because I put so much time and money into getting there. No, I don't have a big house, or an iPhone 10, or a sports car, or a lot of nice jewelry. My son's video game systems aren't the latest greatest. But I don't need any of that. Nor does my family. We have each other. And we're happy. For us, that's enough. That's all we need.
Load More Replies... Steve Cruz 4 years ago
A neighbor worked at a used book store near a college and they threw out tons of textbooks. He got permission to box and take them home, listed them on eBay and Amazon, and sold almost 100% of them. There is a phone app for scanning barcodes to populate the listing. He made $1000s every semester.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 4 years ago
I first went to college in 1969, first degree in 1988, second degree 2014. There are websites where you can borrow college textbooks or purchase used ones which they will buy back. Mailing materials included. Some you can get as an ebook which will save a massage amount, but you often cannot resell it to the supplier or other students. The argument used to be that special typesetting was required for math, science and foreign language textbooks, but that is no longer the case. I could sort of see it in 1969, but now? Gotta be kidding me. And those books with "special" study guides online? Waste of time and money.
Jeff Requier 4 years ago
Bull s**t, I work at a College and most students say they never went in for texts books and passed
Snober 4 years ago (edited)
The more I read about America, the more I realize that being born in a country like India is a blessing. We have lot of problems here but unaffordable education ain't one. Since when I can remember, govt schools here distribute text books for free, that cover the entire curriculum. Also in higher classes you can buy used and fresh books at reasonable prices mostly. You don't necessarily need to buy books from college/school/universities itself. You can buy it from anywhere eg local bookshops, online etc. Also, we have something called mid-day meal plan since long now. Govt. Schools provide students with free lunch, which mostly comprises of local cuisine and not one type of meal for all. We have diversity there too. If you are hardworking and lucky enough to bypass the coaching mafia (private classes) you can get into Engineering, Med schools, or any A-grade university for a minimum fee of 10000INR i.e 138 US dollars anually. We too are battling capitalism but our former statesmen and leaders have ensured that we get best of things that mean the most-medical care and education. I pity Americans
Jan Kovář 4 years ago
I do not understand this. When I was in US, there were so many advertisements for attorneys suing everyone for everything. Why are there not yet attorneys suing teaches for forcing students to buy books they did not need for prices that are ridiculous? It seems like fraud to me.
Gogubaci 4 years ago
Dear americans, please explain again why you think your country is so great? After all these posts here about how bad education, healthcare and other things are over there, US looks like a giant ripoff and you're probably better off in Easter Europe.
Meyer Weinstock 4 years ago
I didn't. It was them. Um, suggestions on where to move in Eastern Europe?
Load More Replies... Cat 4 years ago
Went to uni in the UK. Don't remember any of my lecturers and professors recommend a book they wrote, and several of them were published authors. A few of their books were on the reading list but there were usually copies available in the library. I'm sorry that students in the US have to put up with such unprofessional and unethical behaviors
Riani Kivela 4 years ago
My undergraduate University rented textbooks. I paid around $90 total each semester for books and returned them at the end of the semester. And when the books were updated, they'd sell the old ones for like $5 each if you want them for reference. It wasn't until I went to another University that I realized how amazing the book rentals were.
PoAngielsku 4 years ago
Am I the only one wondering why e.g. 4 students to put their money together to buy a book together then share it with each other?! 4 students = 4 books for the price of 1. They're complaining that college isn't for them because of the price of books --- maybe college isn't for them because they're not smart enough.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
That works easiest when 1st student sells book to 2nd student who take the course the following years, and so on to 3rd and 4th.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Book cost: $125 in 1988. My funds: $0. Begged, borrowed, and begged more to borrow classmates' textbooks. Because I could buy the book o reat for two months.
Leo Domitrix 4 years ago
Note: That was one textbook. Average yearly cost of books for me back then was easliy $1K a year. Before med school.Yikes.
Load More Replies... Aunt Messy 4 years ago
When I went to university in the '80s, I spent about $1500.00 per semester on books. In today's dollars, that's $3600.00 in 2020 dollars. This is a LONG way from new. Books have always been ridiculously expensive.
lara 4 years ago
Actually, no. I saved all my textbooks. I took five classes one semester, and my total bill was 168 bucks. They were all new texts and that was 1973.
Load More Replies... Malene 4 years ago
Now this is ot about the price, but there was once a syllabus that consisted of a DISCONTINUED book ... There were 45 copies left at the university shop, but we were over 350 students. When they discovered the problem, we got a little apology, but they still wanted it as part of the syllabus and exam.
Andrew Bridge 4 years ago
For those prices them books better take me to class, not just sit there like non criminally priced books
Radek Suski 4 years ago
I still don't understand the difference between US and EU when it comes to that. Not only my prof would never require a book from us that is not in sufficient numbers in the library, even if (s)he would recommend a book you could still pass without it because all essential stuff would be provided to us for free. And frankly there are not many books that are more expensive than some 50 Euros
Beeps 4 years ago
This is actually where Amazon really helped me out and why I fell out of love with real-life bookshops: during uni, I needed to buy a textbook for one of my main essays. It wasn’t a set text, but you had a choice of 2 books you could use. They were each around £400 and not something that bookshops kept in stock even in a big uni town. I asked my local bookshop if it was possible to order them both in, so I could have a look at them and decide which one was more appropriate for my project and buy that one. Their answer was a firm: “No, if we order them for you, you have to pay for them!” (So that would have been £800 for 2 books when I only needed 1 of them.) I’m not even sure how this is legal under UK consumer law, as surely this should fall under distance selling regulations, as you’re buying something unseen. It was the last time I’ve set foot into a high street bookshop, and all of my books have come from Amazon ever since, as at least there you’re covered by distance selling regs.
Samantha Lomb 4 years ago
I'm surprised the library couldn't get them for you through Inter Library Loan
Load More Replies... Gaurav Beck 4 years ago
Now that's something young people should protest for rather than being edgy SJW
lara 4 years ago
OK, first of all, your "professors" are all getting a cut on these books as is the department. Second, generally there is a used college textbook group that has your books for much lower, Ask around. Generally all "new" textbooks, unless physics, are nothing but the original textbook with a new intro. Thus an earlier edition works just fine. This attempt to tag this as "capitalism" run amok is being done by all your "socialist friendly professors" who are getting a cut. You can go to the library and copy the textbooks. It will cost you, but it will be cheaper. And finally, ten people make a study group, one copy of the book purchased, then copied nine times and voila, everyone has a copy.
Electric Ed 4 years ago
"unless physics" - lol. Quick: name one new discovery in physics since WWII!
Load More Replies... Corinne Frankenhoff 4 years ago
My books this semester were $300. And only 3 of my 5 classes required books. It's ridiculous. These aren't even new, it's rent used.
Eunice Probert 4 years ago
I bought all the books on the list for a creative writing class, only to be told on the first day that we were to make up our own book lists. I didn't need any of the books I had bought.
Demi Zwaan 4 years ago
And then you go and vote for someone who will not change this at all... second world country, USA.
Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
Textbook costs are ridiculous in Australia also, so not just a US problem.
Load More Replies... Yeah, you heard 4 years ago
Can't help but notice that all these suns of money are preceded by the dollar sign: It's an American problem. That said, students complaining about never using their textbooks, that's your own fault. Use it!!
Dan H 4 years ago
Books can be rented on Amazon for a fraction of the cost. My kids have done this for years.
Jeff Requier 4 years ago
dont be giving negative likes because he speaks the truth
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