2008 Woodie Awards
Student money burnt up on textbooks
The constant updates of new book editions is costing students their hard-earned money
McLorin, Shanae
Issue date: 3/29/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
Recently at California State University East Bay, Corbett announced new legislation, which will hopefully remedy the current textbook situation.
On March 14, Corbett introduced the new legislation SB 832, which would set requirements for college textbook publishers at all public higher education institutions to provide faculty members with the following information: a complete list of all of the products they offer for sale, a list of the wholesale price for each of their products, and an estimate of the length of time the publisher intends to keep those products on the market.
"Outrageously high textbook prices are an impediment to an affordable education … we need to address this problem and help our students better afford college," said Corbett.
Many students will be leaving Chabot College and a number of other junior colleges in the state of California and entering into four-year institutions. Not only are students going to have to worry about textbook prices, they will also have to think about the recently announced 7 percent fee increase in the California State University system as well as the 10 percent increase in the University of California system.
Regardless of where a person attends college, financial burdens can cause a lot of stress on students and are the determining factor as to whether a student is going to continue their education.
"I think it is important, especially for foreign students. The school fees are expensive and if the book fees are expensive too, it makes it really hard," says business finance major Melissa Santoso.
Students who engage in higher education can relate to the feelings that follow the look on your face when you see the total cost of all of your books for the semester. These feelings of anger can be credited to the publishers and the tactics that they use.
A report released by the California Public Research Interest Group (CALPIRG), "Exposing the Textbook Industry; How Publishers' Pricing Tactics Drive Up the Cost of College Textbooks," played a major role in Corbett's decision to push for the legislation.
Students may have noticed that the book they spent a fortune on could not be sold back because the publishers put out a new edition of the book used throughout the semester. This is what the CALPIRG likes to call a publisher's tactic. Students may have also realized that the information in the book may not have changed much and they can get through the whole semester using the older version.
Be the first to comment on this story