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How to Overcome the High Prices of College Textbooks
Here are Ways to Save Money or Even Get your Books Free
Today’s college textbooks are undoubtedly unaffordable for many categories of students who study in superior educational establishments
throughout the United States. The overall prices of curriculum-required, extensively used college textbooks are rising continuously,
determining increasingly larger numbers of students to stop attending to classes and even turn away from college and university for good.
According to statistics, college textbook prices haven’t ceased to rise since 1986, the costs of such products tripling over the last two
decades. Recent estimates also indicate that students at four-year schools spent around $900 for their required textbooks and other similar
study materials over the period of the 2003-2004 school year. Due to the exaggerated costs of college textbooks, more than 60 percent of
students in the United States can’t afford to buy all the course materials they need, and thus fail to pass their exams and even fail to graduate
from school.
Although they haven’t paid the right attention to the phenomenon in the past, government representatives and faculty chairmen have recently
initiated various projects that focus entirely on reducing the prices of college books. Hoping to put an end to the pronounced crisis behind
college textbooks, state legislators are also currently developing new sets of specific laws that aim to bring down the prices of study
materials. This year, more than 40 bills and resolutions will be gradually introduced in around 15 states. According to the National
Association of College Stores, other states have also promised to take proper action in order to make textbooks affordable to all categories of
students.
States are following various approaches in their effort to cut down the prices of college textbooks, developing different solutions according to
their available resources. For instance, the states of New Jersey and Illinois have initiated multiple rental programs, while the states of New
York and Maryland are focusing on exempting the prices of college textbooks from the local sales tax. In addition, the government has
decreed that all state faculties respect a series of norms and regulations. Thus, the state of Virginia doesn’t allow college and university
faculties to accept publisher interests, the state of Washington imposes school faculty chairmen to only use low-price study materials, and
the state of Connecticut imposes that college textbooks publishers disclose the prices of such materials to faculties.
While these initiatives have been successfully embraced in some American states, certain faculty chairmen find the solutions provided by the
government inefficient and offensive, stating that the laws should primarily target textbook publishers, not faculties. However, due to the
existing set of interstate commerce laws, legislators can’t directly sanction publishers and try to solve the costs problem by requiring faculties
to respect certain specific rules instead. Furthermore, government representatives have stated that the recently proposed programs and
initiatives are only temporary, as it is very difficult to find a permanent solution for the problem of high college textbook prices in present.
Perhaps the following months will bring better prospects in taking care of these issues once and for all.
Every year students require various college textbooks for their classes, spending a small fortune to purchase them. High standards should
be improved in the business deal of purchasing new and used books so that all students would benefit of improved methods of learning. In
recent years, college bookstores have begun to lose their monopoly over the market, generating pronounced imbalances regarding the
average costs of most study materials.
Thousands of students who will soon head off to college campuses nationwide are beginning to realize that it takes quite a bit of capital
these days to buy textbooks. In the past two decades, college textbooks prices have increased considerably, at twice the rate of inflation.
According to government estimates, students and their families have spent more than $6 billion on new and used textbooks over the period
of the academic year 2003-2004. During 2002 and 2004, the average college student spent up to $900 a year for textbooks, around 3 percent
more than in the last seven years. Recent studies have also revealed the fact that the average student nowadays spends about $100 on a
single curriculum-oriented new book and about $65 on a similar used book.
Fortunately, there are various high-standard educational institutions that are
currently striving to overcome such topical issues regarding the low affordability
of curricular study materials. The University of Phoenix for instance, has
corrected such problems by modifying the general curriculum and preparing a
lighter course load for attending students. By replacing most traditional
textbooks with e-books, the University of Phoenix has become the first “textbook-
less” college in the country.
Highly skilled students joining selected programs nowadays benefit for
Microsoft's e-book reader software. However, in order to obtain unlimited
access to interactive materials and up-to-date texts online, students still have to
pay a per-course fee. In present, the University of Phoenix has almost 95,500
students at more than 100 locations across the country, currently striving to
integrate all students in the e-book-oriented study program.
In order to achieve a better position on the market, the great majority of booksellers have recently started to sell textbooks at a considerable
discount off the cover price. Furthermore, special areas have been created in order to improve the selling of textbooks on the Internet. Another
great source for college books are the online used bookstores, which help students find the textbooks of their interest at considerably lower
prices.
Students must be very careful when closing a deal on the Web. Considering the fact that textbook prices greatly vary on the Internet, students are
advised to closely analyze all possible alternatives before choosing a certain bookseller over another. It is important to note that the purchase
price should not be the only considered aspect when buying textbooks online; students should also factor in shipping costs and delivery time
before deciding upon buying their desired textbooks on the Internet.
In order to fight the high cost of college textbooks you should double-check for
the correct 10-digit International Standard Book Number, or ISBN. This number
is situated above the bar code on the textbook's back cover or title page. When
you are purchasing online you should check for the ISBN along with the book
title, author and edition.
If you simply can’t afford new textbooks, you should consider purchasing used
textbooks, as they are considerably less expensive than their new counterparts.
You can purchase a used textbook at about 75 percent of the retail price of a new
textbook. Prices vary anywhere from $10 to $80, with an approximate average of
$40. Due to the fact that used books are a scarce and limited resource, often
being sold out by the beginning of the school year, students may need to shop
early in order to obtain their required used books. In spite of this fact, used
textbooks are still a reliable, cost-effective alternative to new textbooks, allowing
students to spend less money for their education.
College books are getting more and more expensive every year. University course textbooks are one of the biggest expenses of attending
college and the average amount of money needed for college books is $800 per year. The cost of college textbooks is also constantly
increasing by around 6% per year. Textbooks are essential for most college courses and can often seem impossible to afford however, it
is possible for college students to save quite a bit of money on their books by shopping smart.
One of the best ways to save on spending a lot of money on college books is to
borrow them instead of purchasing them. University libraries have a good stock of
required reading books that students can use on the premises throughout their
course and help lessen the impact of not having enough money for actually
purchasing college books. Naturally the majority of savvy students have cottoned on
to the fact that they too can save money on college books by using the ones stocked
by the library so it may be difficult to be able to find the book not in use on a regular
basis. If you plan ahead and set aside a few different times of the day and week to
visit the library you may find the best options for you to be able to use the college
books that you want. Not everyone wants to study late in the evenings, especially at
weekends, but if your library is open and you are intent on finding ways to save on
spending money for college books then this could be the perfect time.
Another avenue that may work to save spending a lot of money on college books is
to approach your course professor. They will often have a huge stock of college
good idea to see if you can borrow a particular book that they may have. Not only
may this help but you be able to find out if certain college books are really required
for the course or if you are only going to need a chapter or two from them. With this
advance knowledge you can obtain a copy of the book for a short period of time from
the library or another student who has bought the book and read the relevant
chapters without having to fork out the money for college books that you won’t
necessarily need.