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Cost of textbooks need to be lower

Naliyah Anaya, Guest Columnist

November 17, 2024

In college, students are required to buy or rent textbooks for their courses each semester. Students must pay for overpriced textbooks to succeed in the courses that they register for.

Most of these textbooks that students are required to get are expensive, especially when they are only going to be using the textbook for one semester. The costs of these textbooks add up when students are trying to take multiple courses and must buy or rent more than one textbook.

According to Inside Higher Ed: “Over half (52 percent) of students paid over $200 for course materials during the spring 2023 term, with 31 percent paying more than $300 for a single term.” This shows how most students are paying hundreds of dollars each semester, so they don’t fail their classes.

Other than textbooks, in certain courses, professors require students to pay for lab fees, books (that are not textbooks), and digital homework systems. All these course materials add up when students take multiple courses each semester.

Students sometimes must make the difficult choice of whether they should take fewer courses because of how high the prices of textbooks are now. This outcome is unfortunate because although students are trying to take classes and succeed academically, they can’t because of how expensive the course materials can be.

According to Student PIRGs, “Since 2006, the cost of a college textbook increased by 73% – over four times the rate of inflation.” This demonstrates how the prices of textbooks have extremely increased compared to how the prices were in the 2000s.

Some students may stress about the high cost of textbooks because they have other responsibilities like paying for rent, gas, or food. To try to reduce the cost of textbooks, students try to buy a used copy or rent a print copy or digital copy.

According to Inside Higher Ed: “Community college students … are more likely to be cognizant and mindful of the cost of their materials compared to their four-year peers.” Community college students are more likely to be stressed about having to pay the high costs of these textbooks.

While some students take fewer classes to reduce the cost, other students may make another difficult decision of dropping out because they can’t afford to pay for the course materials for each class in each semester. High costs for textbooks can jeopardize the academic success of students.

If they decide to take the course without using the textbook, they could end up failing the class or be forced to withdraw. By lowering the price, it would help students to succeed in their courses without worrying about the high cost of textbooks.