Skyrocketing College Textbook Prices
USA Today ran a pair of articles today on the high costs of college textbooks. The stories were timely for me -- as we paid nearly $400 for a single semester's books for our daughter yesterday. (Gulp!) Nearly half the titles we purchased were used, too.
I find state legislatures stepping into the issue potentially worrisome -- as a parent who just had to pay an unpleasant bill, I appreciate that students are a captive audience and would like to see textbook prices (not to mention college tuition!) come back down to Planet Earth, but I always prefer to see the market work to resolve problems. A great case in point: the professors who have taken the initiative to utilize new technology and worked to make course materials more affordable for their students.
Speaking of college, the new U.S. News college rankings are out, which are always interesting to peruse, although like most lists, they should be taken with a grain of salt. My daughter's university jumped three spots in the last year, from No. 30 to No. 27. :)
posted by Laura @ 10:35 PM
3 Comments:
You have to wait to get them in the mail, but it was worth it to me when I was getting my teaching credential to order textbooks on half.com. There are other sites too.
Also, UCLA was ahead of USC on that list--go BRUINS!
Boy, I remember being bothered when my total textbook bill was around $400 a semster! (For point of reference, I graduated in '88.) I was lucky though, math and science majors had much more expensive books than I did. Has your daughter decided on a major?
Yes, but UCLA is falling and USC is moving up, and they're now just about even, LOL!!
Thanks much for the tip on half. com. We decided it would be good this first semester to reduce any anxiety by getting the books right away, but we'll be exploring options next semester.
No major yet. She is interested in many things, including journalism, literature, political science, etc.
Laura
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