As many college students have discovered in the last few weeks, a single textbook can cost as much as $500. The average college student spends about $1,000 per year (two semesters) on textbooks, according to The College Board.
According to “The Cost of College Textbooks,” a report released four years ago by the University of Iowa’s Iowa Policy Research Organization, only about 11.7 cents of every dollar goes to the author of the textbook. So don’t think college professors are using their own textbooks in their classes to make some extra money: it’s not all that lucrative. Besides, many college bookstores offer used books as a way to keep down the costs, but the $1,000 figure cited above takes that into consideration.
Students are pretty much a guaranteed sale, textbook publishers know, so the general conversion of course material to online formats has been slowed much more than people were hoping for, the Kansas City Star reports.
But one assistant nutrition professor at Kansas State University decided to do something about it. Brian Lindshield’s new electronic textbook, or flexbook, is free and includes such features as videos, animations, current events and online materials that aren’t possible in a print text.
“I felt exploited by textbook publishers,” the Star quoted him as saying. “I decided that if I were ever in a position to do so, I would try to develop an online form of textbooks. I came into (teaching) with that mindset.”
Why do kids spend so much
- They prefer something bound to a PDF file
- Last year’s used edition isn’t the one on the required reading list
- The bookstore won’t allow them to “rent” textbooks
- There is no online textbook (e-book or flexbook) available for the course
- They don’t shop around (textbooks are often cheaper from online stores)
- Professors don’t inquire if used editions would be suitable
About that last point, the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which took effect July 1, 2010, requires that when a faculty member inquires about a textbook, the publisher must provide information regarding the price students will pay for all forms of the textbooks, as well as the copyright dates of the three most recent editions of the textbook and a description of content changes between editions.
