{"id":1748,"date":"2015-10-15T18:15:20","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T02:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2015-10-15T18:15:20","modified_gmt":"2015-10-16T02:15:20","slug":"big-spender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/big-spender\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Spender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

By: Alvin Wilson \r\nFreelancer<\/pre>\n
There\u2019s no question that college is expensive.<\/p>\n
With course fees, building fees, tuition and the cost of living while attending college all quickly rising, any additional expenses can be too much for some students. <\/p>\n
Textbooks play an essential role in almost every class, and every student knows how expensive they can be. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn my second year I bought an Anatomy and Physiology textbook that was $300,\u201d Jessica Arreola, a junior education major, said. \u201cIt makes me angry because some books are almost as expensive as tuition for a class.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the shelves of Western\u2019s bookstore sit at least three books that cost more than $300, and many more in the $200 range. But textbooks haven\u2019t always been so expensive. <\/p>\n
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, textbook prices have increased by 1,041 percent since 1977.<\/p>\n
How can publishers justify charging students so much for one book?<\/p>\n
Western professor of economics Dr. John Leadley tried to explain our current situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s lots of choices out there for the professors, it would be hard to raise your prices significantly,\u201d Leadley said. \u201cI would just say, \u2018that book is too expensive for my students, I will pick this one instead.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem is that there was a lot of consolidation, or mergers, in the textbook publishing industry \u2014 in fact, the publishing industry in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
These mergers reduced competition in the textbook industry and allowed publishers to raise their prices without fear.<\/p>\n
Some colleges around the country have started introducing money-saving options for students, recognizing how difficult it is for students to afford some textbooks.<\/p>\n
By allowing its instructors to write and produce their own textbooks, Chemeketa Community College in Salem is saving its students an average of $97 per year.<\/p>\n
But if textbooks don\u2019t become more affordable, Leadley said it will discourage students from buying their books. And he\u2019s right.<\/p>\n
According to a study performed in 2013 by the Student Public Interest Research Groups (SPIRG), 65 percent of students from 150 campuses across the U.S. had decided against buying a textbook because of high costs.<\/p>\n
Arreola admitted that she was among the 65 percent of students who decided to skip buying a book.
\n\u201cActually, for this term I had to put off buying one of my textbooks because it was out of my price range. My financial aid didn\u2019t help very much this term,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Leadley believes professors should be as concerned by this as students are. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should anybody care? Because my students stop buying the book,\u201d he said. \u201cFaculty really should care, because if students aren\u2019t buying the book then what\u2019s the point in having a book?\u201d<\/p>\n
However, rising prices and an increase in secondhand textbook use is beginning to have an effect on big publishers.<\/p>\n
Western\u2019s bookstore claims that their book rental program has saved students over one million dollars since 2010, and more students are turning to third-party sellers.<\/p>\n
Because of book rentals and third-party sellers, students are paying less for textbooks now than they were in 2007, according to the National Association of College Stores.<\/p>\n
While this is good for students, it\u2019s not so great for big publishers.<\/p>\n
McGraw-Hill, major American book publisher, reported that 71 percent of their higher-ed revenue came from new printed textbooks in 2010. In 2013, just three years later, that number dropped to 38 percent.
\nWill this decrease in revenue persuade publishers to decrease their prices?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou raise the price, you lose some customers,\u201d Leadley said. \u201cThe question is: did you raise the price enough to offset the loss in the number of customers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Leadley believes publishers won\u2019t be affected enough to significantly lower their prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wouldn\u2019t be doing it if their marketing people weren\u2019t telling them, \u2018yeah, we\u2019re going to lose some, but we\u2019re still going to get more revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arreola hopes publishers will be prompted to lower their prices. If she didn\u2019t have to pay so much for books, she said she would spend more money on food and other essential things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also spend a lot of money on gas because I commute from Salem,\u201d she said, \u201cso that money would probably go toward getting to campus or surviving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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