College expenses have forced students into life with a high debt burden. Soaring costs mean that students finish their schooling with obligations that will follow them for many years to come. On top of everything else that students have to pay, they must also buy textbooks. These books run well beyond one hundred dollars each. Multiplied by at least four courses each semester, and students are facing an even greater expense. However, students are beginning to turn away from the traditional textbook in an attempt to save money. Now, students are looking for alternatives that can help keep their education bills more manageable. In large part, they are beginning to succeed.
Educational book publishers take all sorts of steps to control the market and dictate the price for their expensive products. In fact, the price of course materials has increased eight-fold since 1978, well faster than the rate of inflation. While publishers need to fund publication of books that have a limited pool of potential purchasers, the profit margins are still astronomical. Professors who require the coursebooks do not have to buy them, and there is not much incentive to control students' costs. At the same time, publishers are continuously publishing new editions of textbooks, limiting the used textbooks market's ability to keep the price of new books lower.
However, some students have begun to take measures to lower their cost of books. Specifically, they are finding ways to get the books and materials that they need without having to buy them new. Although there is pending legislation in Congress that seeks to change the way that books are sold, students must take steps in the interim to keep the money in their pockets and out of the publishers' pockets.
Here are some ways that students have begun to save money and avoid the long lines and high prices of the bookstore for brand new books.
• Using online resources as a means to supplement used books or as the primary study resource for the class
• Taking advantage of growing libraries of open-source books to learn for the course
• Forming study groups and book-sharing cooperative to reduce the number of books that must be purchased
Using Online Resources
One of the means of avoiding new book purchases that student are taking is to use online and digital resources. Using these digital resources can help students supplement a prior version of the book such that new book purchases are not necessary. Much of the book's content remains the same from edition to edition. By looking at the syllabus ahead of time, students can compare a used version of the book to the material that the professor intends to cover and see if the book's materials can be augmented. Some professors are doing this on their own and offering digital materials in addition to the coursebook to keep students from having to purchase a new edition of the book.
Open-Source Digital Material
Another means of saving on new books is open-source educational software. Some states are taking the lead to fund open source books and create online libraries to host them. Various other private entities are also creating open-source libraries to give students access to books. For professors, using open-source books gives them some flexibility to tailor their course materials. For students, the benefit of these open-source books is obvious, saving them from having to use valuable financial aid dollars on textbooks. Students should make themselves familiar with repositories of open-source books before they set foot in the bookstore to buy textbooks.
Study Groups and Book Sharing
Book sharing and study groups are other steps that students are taking in order to avoid having to buy new books. Many students enter into cooperatives where they buy one book between them and pass it around as necessary. Other students are studying the materials together so that each does not need to buy the study materials on their own.
Publishers are recognizing the competitive threats to their prior dominance of the educational book market. For the first time practically ever, publishers are holding the line on price increase for those who do buy textbooks. In addition, publishers are moving some books online as streaming resources so that the cost is lower. Book sellers are beginning to recognize that the days of the being able to dictate the price that students must fork over for books are ending.
