PUC Chronicle

Issue date: 1/29/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Jeff styles

The costs of college textbooks are utterly outrageous. Some students walk into the SUL bookstore and leave in tears by the time they exit.
A student could end up buying used books costing upwards of $80. By the end of the semester, students are given an insufficient amount of compensation when they sell their books back.
Books are sometimes bought back for $30 or $40 less than what the company turns around and sells them for.
This poses a major problem for students who buy books for classes which are not pertinent to their individual major.
The majority of students do not even discover their true calling until their sophomore or junior year. This means significant amounts of money have been lost to textbooks which are completely worthless to the student's career.
This can be similar to spending money on parts to a car which they do not buy.
It does not have to be this way.
E-textbooks can save buyers 50 percent on purchasing books for their classes, according to an AP report. Not only do e-textbooks allow students and parents to save money, it would also eliminate the problem of students who sell back books because it would be unnecessary.
The classes would have texts which could be purchases online or offered free in some cases, and access would be quick and easy.
E-textbooks have not been well promoted on campuses around the country. The bookstore at PUC certainly does not have any advertisements for the product.
Students deserve the right to know about opportunities which may save them money.
Congress is currently considering a bill which would eliminate college textbook sales tax. This may save textbook buyers 10 percent to 15 percent on books if they are taking at least 12 credit hours.
This is a small but necessary change in altering the exorbitant cost of higher education.
At the very least, students should be able to buy textbooks off of the internet and actually get them before the semester starts.
I know many students have been in this situation after waiting too long before ordering the books. Some though, purchase their books weeks before the semester and still do not receive them before the first day of classes. But textbooks off of amazon.com and other sites can save students lots of money.
There are people who work hard jobs and make sacrifices to attend a university. For students to have to spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks is a complete lack of responsibility by the higher education system to compensate them for their time and initiative.

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