Textbook prices continue to rise

In the past two decades textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and students have felt the crunch.

According to the GOA, textbook prices have continued to increase at 6 percent per year and tripled from December 1986 to December 2004. The GOA states that the constant revisions and additions such as CDs and extra-- sometimes unnecessary-- material could be the culprit. Publishers say it is the demand from teachers for new and improved material.

Yet more and more students are trying to find alternatives to textbooks at places such as Amazon.com and Chegg.com where students can find textbooks for cheap prices or even rent them out for half the price they would've paid otherwise.

Krissia Beatty, a freshman business major from St. George, thinks these types of alternatives are actually what make textbook publishers and bookstores raise their prices.

"I understand that textbooks are valuable," Beatty said. "In order to succeed in college you need them, but I hate that they are so expensive. I think that because the bookstore makes them so expensive, they lose a lot of the students as customers because the students will end up finding better prices online or from friends."

Another problem students run across is buying from the bookstore and not having the leisure of selling them back.

"I usually buy my books off Amazon,"said Kevin Schwartz, a freshman general education major from Lehi."That's because there is no demand for the textbooks I bought last semester at the bookstore anymore, so they will not buy them back."

Schwartz said he wished he could rent his textbooks for a certain price for the semester then return them later.

So why do textbook prices keep rising? And if government really wanted college to be accessible to anyone, wouldn't their be alternatives?

Some teachers have found just that.

Assistant professor Eric Young of the communcation department said while core classes require the use of textbooks, he finds blogging to be more interactive.

"Students have constant access to the blog, and I keep it updated daily," Young said. "It teaches the students to work together, become critics, and become true peers."

Young posts his syllabus, rubric and extended reading to the blog for students check out.

"I don't agree with the ethics of textbooks," Young said. "It's capitalism at its best. I have kids and a spouse attending college, and combined we've probably spent about $3,000 on textbooks in one semester."

While textbook prices keep rising, the ability to download cheap versions onto e-books and portable devices has grown. Outside sources such as Amazon, the reserved section in the DSC Library, and other websites that offer used books to students at low rates seem to be the saver of choice.

"I think textbook prices are outrageous," said Bryson James, a sophomore science major from Pheonix, Ariz., said. "I don't even buy them. I spend most of my time in the Library checking them out on reserve."

While students cannot change inflation or the fact that textbook prices have increased at a more dramatic rate, they can speak to their teachers about alternatives and look online for cheap rates.