Spring Break is almost here, and visions of beaches, warm weather and waves dance in students’ minds. But for non-graduating students, like me, Spring Break is cause for alarm of another semester’s fast approach. In between hectic thoughts about class schedules, sequences and requirements, another semester brings looming questions of finances.
The “higher” in higher education translates to not just the level of education, but also the yearly increases in the cost of both tuition and textbooks. Since the mid-1980s, the costs of textbooks have risen 6 percent a year — double the rate of inflation. The College Board estimates that students spent $850 to $942 for books and supplies during the 2006-2007 academic year, an increase of $38 to $49 from last year.
A stroll through the University Campus Store doesn’t offer much hope for the future. The majority of textbooks have triple-digit price tags, and the others aren’t far behind. Two required textbooks within the communication department, Visual Communication: Images with Messages and Mass Media Law, are each more than $100 for the new paperback editions. Other textbooks, such as Jazz Styles: History and Analysis and textbooks on therapeutics, were fast approaching $200-more than half the cost of the $359.82 tuition for a three-credit class.
Searching through The New York Times Best-Seller List on Amazon.com, I couldn’t find a single hardcover book for more than $35. And these were just the list prices. Factoring in Amazon’s discounts, the highest price was World Without End at $21 and it has more than double the pages of Visual Communication, which isn’t even a hardcover edition.
Textbook publishers claim that the small market causes high textbook prices. According to the most recent Department of Education statistics, 2005 saw a record of 17.5 million enrollments and is projected to grow 13 percent during the next nine years. In total, college enrollments create a $6.2 billion market for required course materials at college stores. Factor in off campus sites and online stores and the total would soar higher. Even with this incomplete total, the textbook market is about half of the $12 billion in combined sales of Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon.com which includes non-book items, such as music, DVDs and coffee.
So what are the driving forces behind the rising prices of textbooks?
Using figures from the National Association of College Stores and Mass Media Law as an example, the bulk of the money goes to The McGraw-Hill Companies, the publisher. Thirty-two dollars and fifty-three cents goes to cover paper, printing and editorial costs, $10.03 for general and administrative needs, $15.51 for marketing costs and $7.09 for McGraw-Hill’s profit. In total, the publisher receives $65.16 from this textbook alone.
The second largest recipient is the college store, which takes in $22.40, including $10.95 for personnel, $7.30 for operational expenses, while earning $4.46 in profit. Don Pember and Clay Calvert, the authors, get to share the $11.76 in author royalties. Finally, add $1.72 for freight expense.
Simply put, the bigger the price tag, the higher the profit for all parties involved — except the student.
Although ASUU admirably works to eliminate textbook tax, the real problem of rising textbooks prices and the burden they create remains unaddressed. Rather than attempting to put a Band-Aid on the problem, ASUU, administrators and professors should use their higher learning to find creative solutions that will take some of the worry out of another semester and let students truly enjoy Spring Break.
