If textbooks are meant to be a valuable resource that help facilitate an education, why do students often feel taken advantage of by publishers and the professors who insist they buy them?
You’d be missing a pulse to deny that textbooks are expensive. Despite that harsh reality, it’s not uncommon for a professor to assign a textbook for his or her class and then refrain from using it. Beyond losing money on what was once thought to be a “good investment,” students are discouraged and lose faith in professors whose very purpose is to be a source of trust and intellectual growth. Today, the exorbitant price of textbooks along with the insensitive attitude demonstrated by some faculty, demonstrates that the college “experience” is both inefficient and unnecessarily expensive.
According to a report published earlier this year by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the price of textbooks has increased by 82 percent over the past ten years, or roughly three times the rate of inflation.
This spike in prices the past decade places students in a difficult position, begging the question: do textbooks offer the student value? Not surprisingly, in the same report, PIRG says 65 percent of students are deciding against purchasing required textbooks despite the negative impact it may have on their grades.
Many students, including myself, are asking themselves whether it is worth fifteen hours of taking orders at Park Burger to pay for a single textbook. More often, we are answering no. Those of us who are upperclassmen know the feeling of regret after we’ve spent two hundred dollars on one textbook at the DU bookstore only to discover that we really didn’t need it. And, by the time we figure it out, it’s too late to return it for full value. And, while used and digital books have helped, it seems more and more that the cost of the author’s “priceless knowledge” comes at too steep a price.
When I spoke with one of my professors about this problem, he acknowledged only half of his students buy the textbook for the class, noting that much of what he teaches can be accessed on the class’ Blackboard page. And that’s exactly it; many professors test on lectures they give in class and readings they post to Blackboard or Canvas – all easily accessible by students. At the same time, students can quickly query and find answers to problems online.
Yet professors continue to require students to purchase textbooks that aren’t essential to the classroom learning environment.
Some students have also criticized professors who write a book and then make it a requirement for reference in their class. I’m sympathetic to faculty seeking a fair reward for accumulated knowledge and effort, but no one is served well when it’s at the hands of more vulnerable students and escalating higher education costs.
More of us need to speak up in and after class on this issue. We, our professors included, are not well served by the heavy hand of the publishing industry.
I challenge professors to think twice when determining the need and the type of textbook appropriate for the course. Keep students in mind and consider asking for our input regarding what we are willing or able to pay. Parents and students don’t need another reason to question the value of an education.
