HIGH COST OF TEXTBOOKS By: Hilary Clifton

THE PROBLEM  I am doing my proposal project on the high cost of textbooks and the actual need for those books

OPTIONS STUDENTS HAVE WHEN SELECTING TEXTBOOKS  Renting  Buying New or Used  Electronic Textbooks

RENTING TEXTBOOKS  Renting is the least expensive option for students, however COTC could do more to lower the price of rental books.  Websites, such as Chegg.com, charge less to rent the same books that the bookstore has.

BUYING NEW OR USED TEXTBOOKS  Used textbooks cost less than new ones but they are still fairly expensive  When it comes to buying them new is a better option than used because they do not cost much more and you are guaranteed that there is no highlighting or writing in the books.  Most students buy their books from the bookstore and the bookstore would not lose that much money by lowering the price of their used textbooks to help the students out.

ELECTRONIC TEXTBOOKS  These are easy to use and may save students money at first but they are password protected.  If the password runs out before you are finished with the book you have to buy the book again to get another password

NEED FOR THE TEXTBOOKS  For every course there are required books  Many teachers do not use the books that are required for that class.  Teachers should be able to let the students know before the class begins if they are actually going to use the book.

PACKAGED BOOKS  Books that come with extra material are also a problem. Students are charged more because there are extra materials included with the book.  Many teachers do not use the extra materials so students are paying more for things they will never open.  Students should have the option to buy their books with or without the extra material.

UNBOUND TEXTBOOKS  While loose leaf paper books make it easier to transport to class they are not able to be resold because there is no guarantee that all the pages are there and no one wants to buy them.

NEW EDITIONS  Every year there is a new edition of a textbook coming out.  Once the new edition comes out the bookstore will not buy back the old one.  A few years old should not be that big of a deal. Many times the new edition only has a new cover and a new page order.  The bookstore could still buy back an old edition even if they did not want to give the student cash.  They could give them a credit and donate the book to the library so that others who cannot afford books could still be able to read the textbook and keep up in their classes.

THE BOOKSTORE  The bookstore could be more student friendly.  Buying books is stressful enough and the bookstore could really make it easier for students.  They could have more people in there to help students and answer the phones when a semester is starting.

CENTRAL OHIO TECHNICAL COLLEGE  COTC as a whole could do more to help students.  They know that college is not cheap and they could do more to help us out with the cost of textbooks.