University of Wisconsin students can find plenty of reasons to be excited about the beginning of a new school year, but there is one aspect of the start of another semester many students dread: the cost of their books.

UW students routinely pay more than $300 a semester for books and almost as much in additional lab fees and course materials.

The biggest bookstore on UW’s campus, the University Book Store, tries to keep costs low by staying true to their mission to remain a private organization separate from the university, according to UBS Vice President Pat McGowan.

“There are no profits paid out to the owners, because there are no owners,” McGowan said. He said that after the UBS’s beginning as a non-profit co-operative in 1894, the structure of the business changed to a trust to benefit UW students. McGowan noted that there are only 12 other campuses that have this system, including the University of Texas, Harvard University and Yale University.

“Even though we might save you $30 compared to the bill of other university bookstores, it’s still a lot of money,” McGowan said. “I understand that students are not happy about textbook prices.”

McGowan said the markup for UBS’s textbooks is not as high as other bookstores around the nation, noting it is about 20 percent of the wholesale price or less, compared to 25 other retailers. These comparably lower prices might be due to the bookstore’s mission, but might also be due, in part, to the large number of competitive bookstores accessible to campus, including Canterbury Booksellers, A Room of One’s Own, Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative and the Underground Book Exchange.

Elizabeth Amsellem, a UW senior studying art history and history, said she does not think bookstores try to save students money.

“I don’t believe it,” she said. “Books are books. They’re going to be the same everywhere.”

Kevin McCartney, a UW senior majoring in history and geology, agreed that the price is a bit much for a non-profit-driven organization.

“I think the prices are a little extravagant,” McCartney said. “I just spent over $300 on three courses. They are too expensive.”

One reason that textbooks cost more than general trade books is because they cost the publisher more. Other books have a broader market and generally sell better than textbooks.

Steep prices have led some students to Internet book outlets, such as StudentMarket.com, a website that searches several different online book retailers to find the lowest price for college textbooks. The Internet retailers currently have an estimated 7 percent market share of the $7.8 billion textbook market.

UW business graduate student Ian Stuart said he buys all the books he can online.

“The prices I can get online are better,” Stuart said.

Both McGowan and Laura Nakoneczy, spokesperson for the National Association of College Stores, agreed that online stores might have taken some business away, but said it has not been as much as was expected when Internet commerce started up five years ago. They two also said that university bookstores retain student customers because of easy access to the stores and the simplicity of returning books. Students also don’t have to wait or pay shipping costs, unlike Internet suppliers.

Other campuses in the UW System provide the option of book rental. Students at UW-Platteville and UW-Eau Claire can rent textbooks and choose to buy them at the end of the semester. Rental fees are taken from segregated fees.

This practice has never been used at UW and is rarely considered, according to UW spokesman John Lucas.

McGowan said it would not be economically feasible to provide book rental for the 40,000 students enrolled at UW. The system would force students to buy more supplemental material and would hassle professors who want their students reading the most current editions of texts.

McGowan said this would “severely hamper the educational process.”

In order to keep costs down, Nakoneczy suggested students buy used books whenever possible. Campus stores like the Underground Book Store and Underground Book Exchange have flexible “buy back” policies if the same edition of a book will be used in an upcoming semester.

Students can also sell books online to other students through sites like half.com, which is owned by ebay.com.

Even though shopping for new and used textbooks still proves more expensive than shopping for trade books almost anywhere, Stuart mentioned their necessity.

“It’s expensive,” Stuart said. “But it’s the cost of education.”