$206 For a Required Textbook at a College Bookstore!

[longknife]

It can be bought used on Amazon for $100.



No wonder it costs so damned much to attend college.



Do you have any examples?



Read more @ American Power: High Costs of College Textbooks Come Under Attack

 

[Correll]

That's quite the dick move.

Colleges need to be asked some serious questions about the much higher than inflation rise in college costs.

 

[Moonglow]

When I was in college in the early eighties, all books for a semester would cost 100 bucks...Unless it was for like anatomy or law books...

 

[theDoctorisIn]

It can be bought used on Amazon for $100.



No wonder it costs so damned much to attend college.



Do you have any examples?



Read more @ American Power: High Costs of College Textbooks Come Under Attack

I'm in graduate school right now, and I see those prices all the time. $206 is nothing, I've seen required science textbooks that cost nearly $400.

 

[regent]

I remember reading Max Shulman's book, about his college days and the implication was that the professors were involved in the book sales for their classes.

 

[Disir]

It can be bought used on Amazon for $100.



No wonder it costs so damned much to attend college.



Do you have any examples?



Read more @ American Power: High Costs of College Textbooks Come Under Attack

All of my college textbooks were way over $100 dollars. Not to mention that you might have a core textbook and then 3 additional books or 3 core books to one class. Sometimes you might need six books that you read through (not text books and infinitely cheaper) but used as text books.

And then there are the complete BS fees. You used to be able to get around unnecessary fees by holding off to declare your major because the moment that you did the fees started racking up.

In fact, that's the been the move to nail middle school and high school kids as well. Pearson=racket.

 

[Spinster]

It can be bought used on Amazon for $100.



No wonder it costs so damned much to attend college.



Do you have any examples?



Read more @ American Power: High Costs of College Textbooks Come Under Attack

Always bought used books when possible when I was in college. Didn't everyone?

 

[kwc57]

My son just graduated back in May. Every one of his textbooks were bought used but in almost new condition from Amazon. The school provided the ISBN number of each textbook and suing that, you could make sure you were buying the correct book for the course. Saved a ton of money doing that. He and his friends in the same major also passed around textbooks from semester to semester when someone took a class someone lese had already taken. His field of study was Fire Protection and Safety Technology and $206 would have been a bargain.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Always bought used books when possible when I was in college. Didn't everyone?

Assuming used ones are available or the professor hasn't decided to switch to a new edition

 

[depotoo]

This was from 2010, 5 years ago-

Highest Priced College Textbooks.
Acta Philosophorum The First Journal of Philosophy $1450.00
Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications $1215.00
Biostatistical Genetics and Genetic Epidemiology $665.00
Companion Encyclopedia of Psychology $600.00
Feminism and Politics $600.00
Concepts and Design of Chemical Reactors $593.00
Advanced Semiconductor and Organic Nano-Techniques $570.00
Ethics in Business and Economics $550.00
Environment in the New Global Economy $510.00
Solid State Chemistry and Its Applications $500.00
12 Most Expensive College Textbooks in America

they say it is due to research, limited runs, etc. Right....

 

[Spinster]

I remember reading Max Shulman's book, about his college days and the implication was that the professors were involved in the book sales for their classes.

Of course they were. Profs are required, as part of their tenior, to publish regularly. They have to pump out mindless books which when published, they must develop a market for the inventory.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

I remember reading Max Shulman's book, about his college days and the implication was that the professors were involved in the book sales for their classes.

Of course they were. Profs are required, as part of their tenior, to publish regularly. They have to pump out mindless books which when published, they must develop a market for the inventory.

It depends on the field, but most research professors publish scholarly work in journals, rather than publish text books.

 

[Spinster]

Always bought used books when possible when I was in college. Didn't everyone?

Assuming used ones are available or the professor hasn't decided to switch to a new edition

That's precisely why I used the qualifier, "when possible" in my post.

 

[depotoo]

I just checked today's price on the first book in my above list. It has gone from $1450, in 2010 to $1740 in 2015.

You can't tell me costs have risen by that jump. It is outrageous.

 

[Unkotare]

Most college bookstores have a sell-back option at the end of the semester that can mitigate some of the expense.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Most college bookstores have a sell-back option at the end of the semester that can mitigate some of the expense.

You'll never get more than 50% of what you paid, though - and often you'll end up getting less.

 

[Unkotare]

Most college bookstores have a sell-back option at the end of the semester that can mitigate some of the expense.

You'll never get more than 50% of what you paid, though - and often you'll end up getting less.

Not always, but better than nothing.

 

[longknife]

And how often are the books sold back no longer acceptable for the next school year?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

And how often are the books sold back no longer acceptable for the next school year?

Very often, if a new edition has come out.

 

[mamooth]

When prices hit such heights, we'd often have one person buy the book, photocopy each page, and put together a new "book", and sell that to others at a fraction of the cost.

Whether that was practical depended on how thick the book was and what the cost was as to whether that was practical. A thousand page tome that cost $80, not practical. A 200-page book that cost $100, hell yeah.

The professors never cared. They were certainly not getting any kickbacks.