Computer science major Christopher Barnum left Schenectady County Community College Friday $530 poorer but with all the books he needs to begin classes.
“I still need a calculator,” said Barnum, of Schenectady. “That should be about $100.”
Barnum, in his second year at the school, wasn't particularly surprised by the cost of books. “I save my money all summer,” said Barnum, of Schenectady. “I looked online to see if I could buy them cheaper, but in the end it's easier to just come here.”
When it comes to paying for college, tuition is just the beginning, students across the country are learning now as they fill up on a semester's worth of chemistry, anthropology, world history and English literature textbooks.
Over the past 20 years, the cost of college textbooks has increased 186 percent (an average of 6 percent a year), according to a July report from the U.S. General Accounting Office.
Tuition has risen more steeply, 240 percent (or 7 percent a year), but increases in both tuition and textbooks have been substantially higher than overall prices, which rose 72 percent (3 percent a year).
At Schenectady County Community College, students spend an average of $400 to $500 a semester for textbooks. Prices are higher for some courses than others. And that cost doesn't include other needed supplies, such as uniforms and cooking utensils that students in SCCC's popular culinary arts program need, according to Heather Meaney, the SCCC spokeswoman.
“The costs are just staggering,” said Miriam Kramer, government policy analyst for the New York Public Interest Research Group. “We're hearing a lot of students are paying $500, $600, $700 a semester. They're just shocked.”
Americans spent $6 billion on college textbooks in 2003-04, according to the GAO report. According to the National Association of College Stores, the average price is $52.36 for a new textbook and $40.01 for a used textbook.
Anita Levy , senior pro-gramming officer for the American Association of University Professors, said textbook costs have become more of a concern in recent years because students are shouldering more of their college costs. That's in part because state and local governments are funding colleges less, she said.
“Unfortunately, what we're finding is that there are some students opting to do without the books,” NYPIRG's Kramer said. There are some no-cost options, from sharing with friends to relying on the campus library's copy of the course text.
Textbooks tend to cost about the same whether you attend a $45,000-a-year Ivy League university or a $2,700-a-year community college.
MARKETING EXTRAS
While complaints about textbook costs are as perennial as the falling leaves, changes in how the books are marketed are affecting the price in new ways.
The changes begin with the Internet, which offers students a range of purchasing options beyond their college bookstore.
And the textbooks themselves are substantially different than they were a generation ago. Publishers customize textbooks to meet the needs of specific colleges and package, or “bundle,” new features with their textbooks, add-ons such as access to special instructional Web sites.
Those extras come at a cost. The July government study by the GAO concluded that the primary factor contributing to increases in the price of textbooks has been the increased investment publishers have made in these materials.
Textbooks cost more to publish than other kinds of books, said Cliff Ewert of the Follett Higher Education Group, which operates bookstores on 720 college campuses, including Siena College in Loudonville, the College of Saint Rose and the Albany College of Pharmacy.
Beyond the brainpower – the research and editorial review that goes into a textbook – the books are printed on better paper, with more color charts and graphs, and with more durable bindings, he said. And they usually aren't printed in large quantities, which eliminates the cost-efficiencies that come with mass production, he said.
Student advocates say there are other factors at play, including too-frequent textbook revisions. Sometimes those revisions keep the textbooks current, but Kramer said there are times when the revisions offer little more than a new design.
Bundling is a problem, Kramer said, because extra items such as study guides, CDs and workbooks often aren't required by the professor or essential to learning the subject matter. “They just jack up the price,” she said.
Barnum, the SCCC student, is waiting for classes to actually begin, and professors to advise him about what he needs and doesn't, before unwrapping any of the bundled textbooks he bought on Friday. If the full bundle isn't needed, he may return it to the bookstore and find some other source for the textbook, perhaps by sharing with a friend, he said.
BUNDLE BENEFITS
But there can be benefits to these new alternatives.
The math department at RPI, for example, this year will use a customized calculus textbook bundled with a solutions manual.
At RPI, a school known for its engineering program, calculus is as close to a universal course as they come. About 90 percent of the students there take calculus, and its textbook is the biggest seller at the college bookstore.
The customized math book includes just the subject matter all RPI math teachers will cover over two semesters. The book costs $125, a price that includes the required solutions manual. If purchased separately, the items would cost $174.
Mike McDermott, manager of the bookstore, said the book and related materials are a good value. “And it's because the math department worked to get the right materials to support the educational requirements.”
Colleges are taking an assortment of other steps to keep costs down. At RPI, students can order their books long before classes begin. Those pre-sale programs can save students money, McDermott said, because it gives students a better chance of getting used books.
SCCC and the University at Albany encourage teachers to order their books early, timing that helps the bookstore make more used books available.
The AAUP also encourages faculty to give preference to low-cost textbooks as long as the educational content is not compromised, when selecting required reading material. And students should be allowed to use older textbook editions when possible, Levy said.
“Sometimes a new edition may, or may not, be significantly different from an older edition,” Levy said. “We ask that our members keep an eye on that.”
USED BOOKS
Used books are considered a good cost-saving option for students, but even they can be fairly expensive. A used book is typically sold for 75 percent of the cost of a new book, according to the GAO report.
Supply is also a problem.
Frequent textbook revisions make it harder for students to rely on less-expensive used textbooks, which now account for 25 to 30 percent of textbook sales.
Bundling is also complicating the used-book market. “If you have a bundle, not all the pieces come back, and then you really can't buy it back,” Ewert said.
Union College in Schenectady prides itself on offering its students a good inventory of used books. About half of the books sold at the Union bookstore are used, a percentage that jumps to 55 percent during the spring term when the used book providers' inventory is at its peak, according to Caroline Boardman, a college spokeswoman.
BOOK SWAPS
While bookstores sell used books, they tack on costs to cover their own expenses. A better alternative, Kramer suggests, are student-to-student exchanges that cut out the middle man.
Such exchanges have been run informally for years and can be as simple as friends selling to friends at semester's end.
NYPIRG has run its own more formalized exchange for a dozen years or so.
The Internet has added a level of efficiency, making exchanges easier and more versatile, Kramer said. The technology allows students to exchange not only with students on their own campus, but with students at any of the participating colleges.
NYPIRG's book exchange can be accessed on the Internet at www.nypirg.org/bx