7A: Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1
Opportunity: The high costs of required textbooks for UF courses
University of Florida teachers often cast an enormous burden on students by requiring expensive textbooks distributed by massive book publishing corporations.
The who: Students suffer from having to pay for these expensive books on top of tuition.
The what: Teachers require expensive, unaffordable textbooks in order for students to complete assignments in the course.
The why: Universities usually have contracts with book publishers, and require the newest edition of the book instead of previous versions.
Testing the who: Every student I have met has had at least a semester’s worth of classes requiring $100+ books.
Testing the what: Many teachers force students to buy the newest edition of the book directly from the publisher, instead of renting or buying a used, previous edition of the book.
Testing the why: Publishers benefit directly from students buying the newest edition of the book, as universities sign exclusivity contracts with publishers like Pearson.
The first person I interviewed was a University of Florida student that has spent over $700 this school year in textbooks and textbook/homework access code packs. Some of his classes require a specific program to complete assignments, which he has to submit on Canvas anyway. He hates publishing companies and courses that take advantage of students.
This person started their freshman year purchasing their books from the bookstore, but has found many of his required books this semester as free PDFs online. While this is obviously not legal, he is a low-income student and would otherwise have to take out loans in order to afford is books.
I spoke to a College of Journalism professor who does not require expensive textbooks in his courses; rather, he scans specific portions of the book and uploads them to Canvas. He has seen how tough it is for students to have to buy these expensive books, and can no longer support the predatory tactics of large publishing companies.
This person is an engineering major who has spent over $2000 in the last two years solely on books. When asked about if he sold them or used them in class, he said he probably used these books for about 25% of the semester, and never used them again. When he tried selling them, the publisher released a newer edition, making his edition worthless.
Lastly, this person luckily was given a stipend to pay for her textbooks, but still had to pay around $200 out-of-pocket every semester to pay for her books. She rents her book out to other students through the Amazon book rental service, and is slowly making back her money.
Summary: My hypothesis was overwhelmingly agreed on by the people I interviewed. People hate the fact that the textbooks that are required are so expensive. What I didn’t know is that some people are able to find their books for way cheaper or even for free as digital copies online.
Hi Frederico,
ReplyDeleteTextbooks are certainly overpriced, especially when you take into consideration the average income of college students. There are great ways to get around the prices, such as the professor scanning books and finding cheaper, used books online, however, the overall expenses are still relatively steep. I personally think these prices should be included in the tuition price. What would your solution be? I think a cheaper rental service or a book swap are solutions to ponder.
Hi Frederico,
ReplyDeleteBuying text books is the worst. I always try to rent or purchase used first. Amazon now has a rental service that I have used for a couple classes so far. I also find the UF all access option to be a reasonably priced solution to high price text books. I’m not sure if there is a solution to this problem that doesn’t already exist.
I can see this as a potential problem. I recall when I first started college books were always so outrageous. Although I have noticed my senior year I have rarely had to purchase books. This semester for instance I did not have to purchase any books. I found you can check out some of the books at the University library and just keep returning them. It can be a little bit of a hassle but a huge money saver. I have heard of renting books but I haven't tried that option. I found that traditional books you can find online less expensive. However, when a digital book is required with an access code, which many professors are going to I can't find a way around this.
ReplyDeleteI think it may depend on a person's major and what year of college they are in to see who your customer base might be. This would be a great thing to take a poll on in the future.
As echoed here in the comments, the textbook industry is horrendous. I know two people who have written chapters in textbooks and they aren't paid nearly as much as you'd think they'd be for a $200 textbook. Besides the fact that paywalls (whether it be for raw research papers or the absurd costs of textbooks) negatively impact underprivileged people and restrict access to good, raw science, it also really doesn't bring the writers and researchers any benefits or profits, it mostly goes to the publisher. In addition, having essentially two companies telling (often wrongly, especially in history books) people what to believe is inherently worrying, especially with children. There should be a committee that oversees the validity and pricing of textbooks and other educational materials, but that likely won't happen any time soon.
ReplyDeleteThankfully there are some sites that are... let's just say not favored by the textbooks companies, where you can get them for free. Of course, we need to appreciate online websites that connect us with used textbooks at discounted prices, we didn't have this 15 years ago.
The problem with running any kind of free or reduced online textbook format, is that these textbook companies wan their piece of pie and will likely try to shut you down, so I'm not sure about the validity of a company that has free or very cheap version of these textbooks, despite how many want and need this service.