Buying college textbooks, as most of us can agree, is not something we do with alacrity at the start of a new semester. We all hope the teacher will assign as few textbooks and supplementary manuals as possible, and we also hope that any mandatory textbooks are readily available in used, overstock quantities. Foremost, we hope this because textbooks are costly; secondly, they are a deprecatory investment. The sticker shock for a semester’s worth of textbooks may vary from student to student and from major to major, but one thing is consistent: costs absorbed by students are burdensome and add to the already over-inflated fees associated with college. So, why do we do it? Why do we keep spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year for textbooks? Because we have no choice.
According to an article written for the American Enterprise Institute by Dr. Mark J. Perry, a University of Michigan economics professor, educational textbooks have increased to over 812 percent in price since 1978. Dr. Perry claims that “the 812 percent increase in the price of college textbooks since 1978 makes the run-up in house prices and housing bubble (and subsequent crash) in the 2000s seem rather inconsequential.” The out of control increase of textbook prices has been termed a “broken market” by an economist named James Koch. The broken market is caused by lack of competition between textbook publishers. When a professor selects a textbook to assist his or her lectures, the student—without a choice— has to buy that specifically selected textbook. Because the student does not have a choice as to which textbook to buy, Koch claims that textbook “prices reflect the relatively free interplay of demand and supply influences,” by publishers, not production costs. Since the cost to enter the textbook marketing business is extremely high, smaller publishers are unable to enter and maintain a foothold in the textbook market. Furthermore, due to the lack of smaller proprietaries entering the market, the distinguished and veteran publishers own the market and can regulate the cost of textbooks accordingly. Though this is favorable to the handful of publishers, it is not favorable to you, me and the millions of other college students in this nation.
I would like to digress for a moment and state that professors do have the students’ best interest in mind when selecting a textbook. I do believe students need specific textbooks, and I also believe that we should be paying a slightly higher price tag for some of the more qualified books. A first print textbook written by an authoritative individual from the field of study would be an example of a qualified textbook. In this case, the buyer pays more for a higher quality of work in hopes of ascertaining the latest theories, methods and innovations. However, when publishers needlessly release new editions of textbooks—containing the same regurgitated information but with a new cover and introduction—professors could be so kind as to recognize the marking ploy, help a student out and stick with the previously released editions.
To help battle the broken market and prevent the ever-increasing price of textbooks from gouging students’ pocketbooks, some proprietors offer alternative solutions to the traditional book buying and selling experience. Textbook rentals and electronic books (eBooks) are cropping up on more and more campuses across the country. So are students suckers for buying textbooks? No. We are pragmatic individuals who spend less money where possible but fork over what is necessary when alternatives are unavailable. We may even justify the extra expense to ourselves by feeling like the high cost equates to a luxury good, a rare resource, a good investment if you will; but, when we go to resell the book and are offered only a meager percentage of what we paid for the textbook, then and only then do we become victims of the broken, niche-oriented market. After all, imagine the quality of work that would come without the promise of the high profit margin necessary to make up for the low sales volume.
Mark Lesczcynski,
Senior English Major
