Brennan AngelOn average, students pay about $900 per year on textbooks, according to a survey done by the California Student Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG). This is equivalent to 20 percent of in-state fees, not to mention five percent of a new 2007 Ford Mustang or 128 Gus’ Deli sandwiches. Obviously $900 can be used in many different ways, so why are students forced to pay so much on textbooks?
The textbook process is long and complicated. The journey begins with the publisher. Big monopolizing corporations set high costs, making it hard to lower these prices as the textbook chain continues. From the publishers, we travel ahead to book outlets such as on-campus, off-campus and used bookstores. Here the prices are modified even more to account for convenience, quantity and availability.
Then we reach the question: Where should students buy their books to get what they need at a reasonable price?
The options are no doubt endless, from El Corral Bookstore to Web sites like half.com and even facebook groups such as “No Bookstore: Buy Back from Each Other.”
This is where students can make their final decision, with price being one of the main concerns.
For Cal Poly specifically, main contenders for textbook competition are El Corral Bookstore, Aidas and online Web sites. Prices vary among them and a common misconception is that the bookstore is out to rip off students. However, the bookstore is not necessarily behind the high prices.
“The bookstore is only making pennies on the dollar from book sales,” said Associated Students Inc. President Todd Maki.
The main factor behind the range in textbook prices lies in the hands of the professors. The bookstore asks teachers for their textbook requests two months before the quarter begins. This gives the bookstore enough time to “know which books to order and to buy books earlier so they can go through used bookstores,” Maki said.
Only 15 to 20 percent of faculty request textbooks by the deadline, resulting in higher prices for students.
“If we get a requisition form two weeks before classes, we might be able to get them here by the first day of classes, but that doesn’t leave time to order from used bookstores,” said Cindy Giambalvo, the courseware division manager for El Corral Bookstore. “We are competing with all the other schools at used bookstores.”
This means that if teachers don’t put in their order forms on time, most of the used books are already gone, leaving the bookstore knocking at the doors of the original publishers, a much more expensive option. This then pushes up the prices for students, hence the $900 per year average spent on books.
This is also a problem at local popular bookstore Aidas, located on Foothill Boulevard.
“Teachers could save students a lot of money,” Aidas manager Jane Rasmussen said. “When they place their orders only a couple weeks before the next quarter starts, it affects how long we have to search for used books, then we run out of the time and we have to buy new textbooks.”
This also affects the ability for the bookstore to buy back student’s books at a reasonable cost. If they don’t know if a professor will require the same book of his students for the following quarter, then the bookstore can’t invest in buying back the books at a higher price.
And while teachers can ultimately lower the prices of textbooks for their students, it is not yet the perfect solution.
“They ask for our book orders by week three (of the previous quarter), and sometimes you haven’t decided what you want to use yet for the next quarter,” philosophy professor Rachel Fern said. “They want you to decide, and once you order the books, you’re committed to that material.”
A textbook solution
ASI has been looking at all sides of this issue, and has developed a task force that will “look into the feasibility of developing a central publicly accessible Web site which will provide information about textbook requirements and alternative formats and pricing of textbooks for Cal Poly courses,” according to the “Resolution on Textbook Pricing,” from the Cal Poly Academic Senate.
In addition, students have many other places to look for lower prices. Aidas offers textbooks at cheaper prices than El Corral.
“We try to carry as many used books as we can and with the used books come lower prices,” Rasmussen said. “But we also compare each price to make sure the books are lower than what the students are getting on campus.”
Web sites like www.screwthebookstore.com and www.half.com give students a convenient online option with perks such as free shipping and future discounts.
“The primary function of screwthebookstore is to save students money both on the buying and selling end,” cofounder Kirk DeClark said. “While we don’t have exact figures on the dollar amount saved, our best estimates lie somewhere around $600,000 since the site started.
Ancillary benefits include avoiding lines at the bookstore, selling editions that the bookstore will no longer buy back, meeting new people, and letting the bookstores know that it’s not OK with Cal Poly students that they gouge them on prices.”
Other ways to help lower book prices is for teachers to avoid automatically requiring new editions of books that have minor and mainly insignificant changes. This also applies to books that come in large packages with CD-roms and one-time-only passwords. Faculty can suggest these packages but not require them, making it easier for bookstores and students to purchase used texts.
Blackboard and e-reserves can be used to post sections of books and scanned material so an entire book doesn’t need to be purchased. Other schools have even looked into providing bookstore credit to teachers as an incentive to turn in their textbook request forms on time.