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Significance of rising college tuition
Why is rising tuition a problem
Why is rising tuition a problem
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College textbooks are increasing in price every year. According to the Government Accountability Office, the price of college textbooks has risen three times as fast as inflation (USA Today, 2014). And for students the increasing cost accounts for more than fourteen percent of a four year degree (U.S. News, 2014). The cost of textbooks is forcing students to choose between paying more for an education or not get a passing grade in a class. The escalation of college textbook prices by publishing companies is not something college students should have to pay. First a little about why textbook prices are increasing. Textbook prices continue to rise because publishers have to cover the cost of producing the books and the companies want to make …show more content…
According to a National Association of College Stores survey, students, in 2007, spent 702 dollars on textbook. In 2009, the students spent 667 dollars, and in 2011, the student spent 655 dollars (Kestenbaum, 2014). The students are spending less even though the price of the textbooks is increasing. There are a few explanations for this reduction in student spending. One is students purchasing book through other avenues. In 2013 the Supreme Court made the decision that American may purchase and sell copyrighted material that had been gotten legally (The Economist, 2014, p. 24). Students are finding other means to get there textbooks instead of paying for them. Finally the students are choosing not to pay for textbooks. According to an article in the U.S. News and World Report (2014) 64% of students are choosing to not purchase textbooks so as not to have to pay the costs of the books (Bidwell, 2014). These students know not purchasing the books will cause their grades will suffer, but they do not pay to save …show more content…
Online books could be produced at a lower cost. Also companies could realize they are not able to produce as many copies of a book. Finally the publishing companies may have to cut back on how often they publish a new edition of a textbook. With each new addition there may be little to no changes in the information. Republishing a text every two or three years may not need to happen. Maybe a book can be published five or seven years. Some book do need to be republished every two or three years but other books can be published after seven years. Some books are written by the professors that then use the books for their classes. There is nothing wrong with a professor using the book for his or her class. Instead of having the students purchase the books maybe another way for the professors to use the textbook.
Another solution could be open textbooks (Weisbaum, 2014). These are teacher written peer-reviewed online books. The cost is free to the students. Compared with a tradition textbook this could be a positive replacement. The savings to students at University of Wisconsin-Madison, for using open textbooks, could be as much as 6 million dollars per year (Bidwell, 2014). A significant amount of money that could go toward housing, food, or other career related
In a recent study that was conducted the rate of individuals attending college has increased. This increase in students comes at a time when the country has been described as being in a recession. With job losses, companies closing and lack of job availability many people are returning to school. This return to the classroom comes at a cost. The rate of college tuition has risen in the last few years. In my home state of Kentucky, it appears both of the major Universities have asked to raise tuition every other year. When college cost rise so does the tools needed to attend college. One of the most expensive tools is books. Last year I enrolled my son in college when calculating the books for his classes, we soon learned that the cost of his books and the cost of my books were almost on month’s salary. My family soon learned if we were going to be able to not only attend college but have the necessary tools needed, we would have to consider alternatives to buying books. I did some research and soon discovered that technology had again come to the rescue. I found a company called Chegg that is an online book rental company. This company provides students with an alternative to buying books by renting them for a portion of the price. According to their article in CrunchBase named “Chegg edit” the company began at Iowa University in 2005 as a “hyper-local” classified directory. It was not until 2007 that the company introduced their textbook rental service. When looking at the company from an Information Systems standpoint I would say it ranks up there with the creative ideas of the century. You go online type in your order and it is processed within a matter of days. During the next portion of this paper we will loo...
This article, “Why Are Textbooks So Expensive?” by Henry Roediger reveals the truth of why textbooks are so pricey. He shows how textbooks prices are costly not because of inflation, corporate textbook companies, and frequent revisions, but because of the sale of used textbooks. The article is elaborating on why used textbooks are the real culprit as well. One main point that is highlighted is that used textbooks are resold for many years. The initial selling of the textbook is the only time the author will make a profit, but the bookstore will make a profit every time they resell a used book. It is essential for the author to raise the price to compensate for the loss of money when dealing with used textbooks.
... Textbook Prices Increasing Faster Than Tuition And Inflation." Http://www.huffingtonpost.com/. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Impact of Digitizing Books? Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Rpt. from "In the 21st-Century University, Let's Ban (Paper) Books." Chronicle of Higher Education 13 Nov. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Ask any college student to state one of their largest expenses and it would be safe to bet the response would be “Textbook prices!” The cost of purchasing required materials for courses has reached numbers high enough to cause many students to take out second loans. Information released this year by the American Enterprise Institute shows that “College textbook prices have increased faster than tuition, health care costs and housing prices, all of which have risen faster than inflation” (Kingkade, 2013). This information equates to an 812% increase in the cost of college textbooks over what they were just over thirty years ago (Kingkade, 2013). The figure here shows an unusually large increase that has far outpaced that of average inflation.
"As Costs of Textbooks Rise, E-books Emerge as More Affordable Alternative." The Daily Illini. Brittany Gibson, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Through connection and communication, work ethic has improved in schools especially when a student’s score means a lot to school funding. The old ways of using textbooks can cause back pain when carrying it around everywhere and kill trees when making them. With new editions of a textbook being published it creates more worry for schools since it can cost a fortune to buy each book for classrooms to stay updated to the newest information.
Overpriced textbooks are an issue that needs to be addressed more seriously and strived to fix. After all, the price of textbooks in the United States are double that of what they are in oversea
One reason that higher education is not affordable is that the states’ revenue is low and the states are in debt. Because of their decreasing tax revenues, many states need to make cuts in their budget. As a result of this, tuition is rising and other changes are happening throughout colleges. Some of these changes include: higher student to faculty ratios, less but larger classes, and fewer on-campus jobs that normally support students (Hulsey 24). These changes affect students and impact their view and decisions of certain colleges. The tuition rate has also “been rising at about 6 percent a year for most of the past ten years” (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). This percent inevitably makes it harder for students to find an affordable college. High tuition prices also keep some people from attending their dream college. All of these changes have an effect on the students and the rising tuition prices.
The conflict between B&N College bookstore and McGraw-Hill originates from the fact that McGraw-Hills publishers have decided to establish a new return policy on their books. McGraw-Hill blames B&N for not being able to accurately estimate their inventory needs, resulting in a big quantity of new, unsold textbooks returned to McGraw-Hill. The primary reason why we assist to a lot of textbook return in the college textbook industry is because of inaccuracies in predicting college enrollment levels. The factors contributing to this phenomenon are demographic factors. In fact, Demographic trends show a decrease in the level of enrollment in U.S. universities and colleges. In addition, a lot of nontraditional students are returning to college making
In conclusion, America provides many ways to help reduce the cost of college textbooks but society is still not satisfied with the outcome. The Open Textbook, Affordable Textbook Act, and book store rentals are wonderful programs, but has its disadvantages that hopefully would be resolved in the 2016 presidential elections. The statistics show that many students across the nation benefit from learning with quality of teaching, the amount of accessibility it provides without having to worry about paying off student loans. School administrations should consider about transferring to an act that would benefit both the school and the students, but also provide more equality to the publishers and students.
Textbooks are a must in almost every university. On top of tuition, dining and housing fees, high cost of textbooks is a huge burden on the students. Every student wants to buy the textbooks for their class as the books are the best source for their study, but the main barrier is the high price of the books. According to NBC's review of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, textbook prices have risen over three times the rate of inflation from January 1977 to June 2015, a 1,041 percent increase(Popken).
Textbooks are reliable, they can be used by anyone, and there are enough textbooks for each student to have their own, and be able to take them home. Also, technology is impacting the way the brain receives information. Reading digital print isn't as productive for readers as printed text, and there is limited access to resources needed for tablets to be effective when used by students. While this is true there are benefits to using tablets and other forms of technology in the classroom. It is easier for teachers to have assignments emailed directly to them, or post assignments on the internet, the use of technology is required in many core classes, and textbooks are easily worn, and expensive.
First of all, buying an e-book is cheaper than a printed book. As a student who is studying in college, I know students have to buy text books for all the classes. According to an article from website, “average price of best-selling e-books is $5-$11, and most text-books’ price is around $200 which are selling in bookstore even rental books should cost 50% of the new books’ price.” We can immediately know that e-books are much cheaper than printed
The advantages of E-books are clear. They provide the reader with a cost effective way to purchase and read books. In addition to that I found an article from WSJ by Steve Johnson that stated “E-books would likely change the way we read, write and sell books in profound ways” (Johnson). This statement is entirely accurate, because we are currently living through the transition to the digital form of publishing. Besides being cost effective E-books have many other advantages compared to traditional books. E-books have made a big impact in the lives of students. E-books being cheaper than traditional books is the single biggest reason for students to take advantage of them. Alongside that students are able ...