Oct 10, 2007 8:00 AM

Sound Bites

The high cost of textbooks is in the headlines, with Gov. Schwarzenegger considering two bills that might help manage costs. What do you think of textbook prices and how would you deal with it?

Andrea Ortiz, hospital lab tech at the UCLA Blood Donor Center and LMU graduate student

Textbooks are insanely expensive. I pay anywhere from $300 to $500 just on books per semester. I like what they do about putting books on reserve at the library -- if you actually have the time to go to the library to obtain it. It’s good when you have professors who will actually take price into consideration. A lot of times you’re kind of forced to buy new books because they run out of the used or because it’s a new edition -- but basically it’s the same thing.

Patty Beckwith, dietician in the UCLA Medical Center I put three kids through college. The way my kids got around the high cost of textbooks is that they bought used and resold back. Yes, books are horribly expensive, but they were expensive when I was going to college. Everything’s more expensive. [As for a bill before the governor,] how much are we going to legislate? Tell the governor to work on healthcare and forget about textbooks.

Ellen Carpenter, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry I save my students money by not using textbooks very often. Most of the material that I teach is too new or too specialized to appear in textbooks, so I rely on primary source material and I write extensive sets of notes for my students. I post my notes to the course Web sites so that students can download and print them as they need them. When I have taught large classes that used standard textbooks, I was frustrated by the rapidly changing editions. Often, new editions seemed to have relatively minor changes. It would be nice for textbook publishers to provide greater transparency about what changes are made for new editions – this would allow me to decide more easily whether I need to upgrade to a new edition, or whether an existing edition (with lots of used books available) would suffice.

Mary Metz, administrative specialist in the American Indian Studies Center Would it be a good idea to obtain more information (textbooks, readers, etc.) online with a fee to access it? We’re already moving in that direction. Perhaps more demand for it would move it faster. Hopefully this would reduce cost to students as well as reducing the use of paper and saving a few trees for today’s students’ children and grandchildren.

Charlie Vuong, 4th-year student majoring in philosophy I’m spending upwards of $300 a quarter, almost $1,000 a year, just on books. That’s a lot of money. And my books probably don't cost as much as those in other majors. The price of books does come into play when you think about what classes to take. Some faculty members actually do think about students having to spend a lot. Before you take a class, they list the textbooks required and how much they cost. Getting it used from another student is probably the best.

Marisol R. Aguilar, administrative assistant in the Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center We live in the computer age. I would assume with the advent of e-books that physical books would be obsolete. Wouldn’t the electronic format make it easier and cheaper for everyone to obtain books and updates, save the environment and ease distribution for all of those involved? The only impediment I see in all of this is the publishers themselves who are looking to make a quick dollar.

Cara Adams, assistant in UCLA’s National Center for History in Schools I do think that textbooks are way too expensive. I finished my undergraduate work [at UCLA] basically checking out books from the libraries … also by sharing with friends: One person would buy the required reader and then a few others would pay her to be able to copy it. I also checked out books from the Women’s Studies Department – they were a lifesaver. I donate my used books back to that department so others can check them out like I did.

Tanya Lara, administrative assistant, Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools As a former student, I would save on book fees by finding the appropriate materials at either YRL or Powell. A lot of the books on the class list are usually available in the libraries, so get there early before other students check them out. Web sites like campusi.com was also very helpful in saving money. I definitely think that the book publishers themselves need to reorganize their book output. For example, books get released as new editions even when very few changes are made. I think that this is one of the major issues in rising book costs.

Dawn Canfield, manager of information technology in the Psychology Department Printing textbooks is inherently expensive. With the widespread use of course Web sites, we do see more and more class materials and readers being put exclusively on the Web. While this can reduce the need to over-print materials, it can also bring up new issues with regard to reuse and copyright. Still, course Web sites are certainly here to stay and we continue to look for ways to improve them. Traditional textbooks could change, too. Portions of them could be more accurate if updated frequently on the Web, and interactive Web simulations might take the place of workbook examples or in-book quizzes. So many possibilities! The Common Collaborative Learning Environment would like to hear your ideas on this, too. Write to them at : ccle@ucla.edu.

Gayle Hifumi Gaw, administrative assistant in the UCLA Center for Culture and Health College textbooks have become outrageously expensive! While I’ve been out of college for awhile, I can still remember going into major credit card debt just trying to pay for them. It’s crazy that books should be so expensive when they're most often only used for one quarter (or semester). If you try to sell them back, you usually get a fraction of the original cost. And if a new edition has been published, I can remember not being able to sell them back at all. This being the digital age, shouldn’t we all be pushing for digital versions of the textbooks? Probably not a favorable idea with publishers who are obviously trying to make money, but there could still be a small fee for buying just the CD or DVD version of the textbook, or even an online download. Think of all the paper not getting wasted and all the trees that could be saved! As a long-time UCLA staff member, I see so many students carrying laptops, it just seems like this would be more economical, convenient, and environmental. I'm old-school and would still prefer a hard copy textbook myself, but having a digital option might be more favorable to today's students — and their parents!

Robert Rodman, professor of computer science, North Carolina State University One problem with the cost of textbooks is the university bookstore itself, which pays 50% for a used book and sells it for 75%. The bookstore pays $80 for a book and sells it for $100. They buy it back for $50 and resell it for $75, thereby reaping $175 for a $130 investment for a $45 profit for just one round of buy-back. Multiply this by 10 books and 30,000 students — you get a tidy sum of $13,500,000/year. And the campus bookstore doesn’t pay rent or maintenance (at North Carolina State University) so even after paying salaries, there is a tidy sum left over that could be used to offset costs in the form of book-scholarships or some such. Don’t place all the blame on the publishers. If publishers do not meet their costs and pay royalties to the best scholars and writers, the quality of books will decrease and so will the quality of higher education.

Wendy Temple, student affairs officer in World Arts & Cultures My daughter just started at UCLA as a freshman this year. One of her classes requires seven books and a reader, another one book and a reader, the third, three books. The total (even with buying used books) was about $500. I wish there was more regulation on the number of books/readers per class that might be required – especially when it's a 10-week class. I can see it will almost add up to the price of a 4th quarter each year to pay for the books. And although UC is so reasonable in comparison to private universities' fees, there are dorm fees to pay for [at UCLA], too. It all adds up to more money to be considered in the mix for loans.

Julie Skrupa, administrative specialist in the Office of the Assistant Chancellor I graduated with my undergraduate degree from a state school in North Carolina in December 1997. I thought books were too expensive. This especially held true if I was asked to purchase a textbook as a preferred, "on the syllabus" supplemental publication list for a class. I think statewide funding or book cost reduction should be offered to all students. Could the cost of books, at a reduced rate, be figured into a tuition bill in any way? Why can't book publishing companies partner with academic istitutions to devise offers for more affordable book costs to students, or offer them at half the price as what students pay for them now? Has anyone studied models that other countries use (those countries in Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, and the Middle East)?

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