< Back | Home
Staying up-to-date with the latest editions of textbooks keep students paying more for their books. Financially strapped students should seek alternatives: renting books or comparing prices on Web sites like Amazon.com.
Textbook costs, stress rising
Students, faculty try to find cheaper alternatives to pricey books for class
By: Joie Nishimoto and Remington Taum
Posted: 9/14/09
Buying textbooks is an expensive necessity for college students at both universities and community colleges. Most students work several jobs just to pay for school alone. But when the cost of textbooks is thrown in the mix, it can get even pricier.
Around campus, students can often be heard complaining about how expensive - and how many - textbooks they bought this semester.
"This semester I spent almost $300," said KCC student Barak Maor, 18. "The most I spent on textbooks was $350 in my first semester."
That's about the average cost for books per semester, according to students.
Sonya Kim, 18, said she works multiple jobs to be able to pay for her textbooks. And Naomi Wilbur, 20, works at Big City Diner as a hostess to earn money to buy books.
"I only bought three textbooks but I just ordered one more," Wilbur said. "The total was $316; my Japanese textbook with CD was already $120."
There are also a few other options other than buying a new book such as renting a textbook or purchasing a used book.
Web sites like Amazon.com, chegg.com and even craiglist.com can provide some alternatives to purchasing those heavily priced textbooks. The school bookstore sells some used books as well.
Kendra Zane, KCC bookstore manager, has been working at this school for more than 10 years. As bookstore manager, she handles the ordering of textbooks and supplies and makes sure everything arrives in a timely manner.
Zane said that if teachers decided to stick with an older edition of a textbook - "older" can mean up to only a few months old - it will depend on whether the publisher still has copies of it. Otherwise, the instructor has to order the newer edition, which students have to purchase at often a higher price.
The KCC bookstore also offers buy-backs on books for students. Zane added that they are only able buy back the books depending on the instructors requirements for the next semester.
The bookstore tries to buy back as many books as it can, but there are some exceptions, said Kory Uramoto, who will take over Zane's job when she retires at the end of the semester.
She said that the bookstore works with teachers to find the cheapest possible prices for students.
Wilbur plans to sell back her textbooks after the semester is over.
"I definitely want to sell my books back or whatever I can," she said. "Because I have to pay for my textbooks, I don't feel too good about it. I need the textbooks if I want to pass the class."
But not all students participate in the buy-back program. And not all of their books are bought back by the bookstore, either.
"I keep forgetting to sell back my books, but I'm planning to," Maor said.
The bookstore tries to stick with the latest editions because they are easier to order.
According to Uramoto, the publishers try to understand the teachers' needs but do not always grasp the whole picture when they work with the bookstore.
"We feel like we're at the mercy of the publishers sometime," Uramoto said.
There are also loose-leaf books available, which are pages that are not bound together.
"We don't buy back loose-leaf packets. But they're convenient (for teachers and students) because they're cheap when it's new," said Uramoto.
Math professor Kyong S. Chung, who has worked at KCC since 1971, has been around campus long enough to notice the prices of textbooks.
Chung mentioned that textbook prices are reduced to accommodate students when a KCC edition is published.
In a KCC edition of a textbook, only a certain amount of chapters are taught.
In math 103, they have the KCC edition of the textbook where only certain chapters are in the book. The regular textbook has about 12 chapters, but teachers usually teach just six a semester. New math textbooks cost around $100.
Kalani Fujiwara, political science instructor, tries to order about 35 textbooks for each class. He said that the price range for textbooks he orders for students range from $40 to $230.
Department chair of arts and humanities and associate professor of religion Eric Denton is also concerned about textbook prices for students. This semester, Denton is using PDF files from EBSCOhost through the library. They don't use textbooks and there is no textbook charge.
"That's the direction I'd like to go. I'd like to move away from textbooks," said Denton. "A lot of that is a concern for cost… I'd like to find something that does the job of a textbook, but not the cost of a textbook."
If the publishing company says they're discontinuing a book and they're putting out a new edition, then students have no choice but to buy the new book.
"The textbooks do seem a little bit of a scam," said Denton.
© Copyright 2010 The Kapio Newspress