Students are becoming drained while trying to accumulate enough money for course materials. The average cost of textbooks at WSU Vancouver ranges from $500 to $1,000 annually. Including the cost of in-state tuition, those paying out of pocket are expected to dish out around $12,000 for their education each year. Furthermore, one survey conducted by the Education Data Initiative reported in 2020, nearly 66% of students avoided purchasing textbooks due to steep prices.
When considering these statistics, one must beg the question: How can students be expected to succeed in their courses when they have to sacrifice their time, and sometimes, their entire paycheck to purchase required textbooks?
Digital textbooks and e-books could offer refuge from increased prices, as printed books disappear. However, to students’ surprise, the alternative piece of paper that acts as a digital access code costs the same, if not more, than physical textbooks.
On average, a digital access code costs around $100, according to The Atlantic. Unlike physical texts, students cannot resell or reuse them, disabling the second-hand market. However, most e-books offer additional services, such as integrated homework, note-taking and study tools. But are these features enough to support the high price for access to a URL?
Digital books exclusively available online can also pose accessibility issues for many students. According to the Open Textbook Alliance, a nationwide student-led Public Interest Research Group, 10% of students report having unreliable internet access. Moreover, 30% report not purchasing a digital textbook access code and 8% of students fail a class due to the lack of affordability of course materials.
In case you were wondering who the culprits are for the evolving markup monopoly, most of the textbook market is controlled by only a few publishing houses. This includes businesses such as Barnes & Noble College, McGraw Hill, Cengage and others, as attested by Bloomberg Law. Because the market is controlled by only a handful of companies, publishers get to change their pricing at will due to lack of competition, therefore, creating an opportunity for price gouging.
The Washington Post says one of the most common strategies implemented by publishers to keep prices high is by printing new editions of textbooks. Material usually changes between editions, resulting in a misalignment with existing lesson plans. Thus, students are at the mercy of publishers, who mark up costs by an average of 12% with each new edition, making the second-hand textbook market less attainable, according to the Open Textbook Alliance.
As reported by the American Enterprise Institute, many professors adapt their courses around a textbook. Luckily, some are willing to make accessible changes. Many WSU Vancouver professors are starting to promote open-access course materials, or have no required text at all. Not only are their textbooks available for free online, but professors can order physical versions to the bookstore that cost around $30 rather than $80 to $150 through nonprofits such as OpenStax. Also, sites like slugbooks.com, textbookrush.com and chegg.com attempt to end the current publishing monopoly by offering low-cost or free versions of textbooks.
Rising college textbook costs further the idea that higher education is not meant to be widely accessible, and is inherently classist. The fact that students have to do additional research when hacking their way to a more affordable college experience is disheartening, considering the outrageous costs of a four-year university. Nevertheless, students’ dismay have made open-access texts a reality, and as they continue to outsmart the system of exploitative pricing, there is potential to create a cheaper market for everyone.
Bethanie is a senior studying environmental and ecosystem science at WSU Vancouver.