The high price of textbooks still has University of Wisconsin students squirming despite lower costs than other colleges.
Pat McGowan, president of University Bookstore, said the latest figures for the average cost of course materials around the nation is approximately $900, a price mostly determined by publishers. However, the average cost of textbooks is $600 at Madison. McGowan attributes the lower cost to the University Bookstore’s markup of only 20 percent, while shops from around the country mark up 25 percent.
Still, McGowan argues the high price of books is not staked in corporate-driven profits.
“Lots of things factor into the cost of a book, like the cost [of] actually [producing] the book, whether there is a compact disc involved, or color and graphs,” McGowan said. “Publishers take into account how many copies of the book they are going to sell.”
However, officials from publishing companies emphasized textbooks consist of more than the cost of paper and CDs.
Colin Earnst, vice president of corporate communications at the textbook manufacturer Houghton Mifflin Publishing, said the texts take tremendous amounts of research and are probably the most important assets a student has, next to a professor.
“It requires an investment on the part of publishers of millions of dollars before a single book is even sold, as well as an investment on the part of the student. It’s an investment in their education,” Earnst said. “Books are not cheap; they are priced as they are for the tremendous value they offer.”
Not only that: many professors purposefully choose their textbooks as a specific fit for their classes. Also, many professors rely heavily on textbooks to be more than a supplement to their classes.
Zogby International, an organization dedicated to tracking public opinion, found in a recent study that 84 percent of college professors see textbooks as necessary to earning good grades in their courses.
Many students are frustrated not only with the cost of textbooks, but with how little they receive when selling used textbooks.
“Last time I tried to return mine, I only got $6.50 back, which was not helpful to buy books for this semester,” UW freshman Alex Greenberg said. “I think it’s good that people give back used books because there is no point in saving them if you won’t use them — but the bookstore should really discount the used books more than they do now.”
Students also expressed frustration over having to buy shrink-wrapped packages of books and other learning materials when the class did not use all of these materials.
Some students have decided to scrap the traditional trek to the campus bookstore at the advent of the semester altogether and have switched to using the Internet because companies like Amazon.com, ClassBook.com and BigWords.com offer cheaper prices on texts.
According to Jeff Sherwood, CEO of BigWords.com, students save $72 on average, with a third of students saving $100 or more. The site has no particular allegiance to any bookstore and is focusing primarily on its important service to students, Sherwood said.