When sophomore Mark Fazier exited the University Bookstore on Thursday morning, he was carrying a small fortune with him: $321.15 worth of textbooks, which is the most he’s ever spent.
“I expected to get at least some used textbooks but I didn’t get any,” said a resigned Fazier, toting a brown paper bag filled with the required books for his 16-credit course load.
Out of all the expenses associated with college, texts often seem the most onerous.
Chris Standish, book division manager at the bookstore, said he understands how the price of textbooks can boggle students’ minds. Standish said he often hears students question how an economics textbook can cost $90 when the latest Harry Potter book costs $8.
A number of factors drive up the prices of textbooks, Standish said, but the desire to milk students’ pockets is not one of them.
“We try to run this operation for books as close to break even as we can,” Standish said. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t have $180 books on the shelves.”
One of the reasons textbooks are so expensive is because they have a lower selling volume than trade books.
Standish said publishers of trade books can afford to price their merchandise lower because they sell many copies and usually don’t have color. On the other hand, textbooks often have color and a small print run, which means they must be priced higher in order for a publisher to make money from them.
“Publishers aren’t going to stay in the business of publishing if they don’t make money at it,” Standish said.
He added that the used book market is another driving force behind the high price of textbooks.
As the popularity and profitability of used books has grown, publishers have been forced to print new editions more often in order to make money. Standish said the new edition cycle for books used to be every five years, and now it has bumped up to every two years because people stop buying new books after used ones become available.
In addition to competing with used bookstores, publishers compete with each other. And in order to get to students’ pocketbooks, they must first go through professors.
Standish said textbook publishers constantly add additional things — such as Web sites, study guides, CD-ROMs and a number of other special features that increase the price of production — to make their product an attractive teaching tool for professors.
Journalism Professor Duncan McDonald said seven to eight sales people approach him every year trying to get him to use their textbook in his classes.
Business Professor Dave Dusseau also said he’s frequently approached by marketing people from major textbook publishers.
“I represent a huge business,” Dusseau said. “Think about the potential to sell 2,500 books at $50 a pop to students.”
But Dusseau, McDonald and Standish all said they are concerned about the high cost of textbooks and the burden it places on students. Standish said he knows students are making decisions to share, borrow and photocopy books so they can afford to take the classes they need.
“I don’t think they have the kind of access to books they want,” Standish said. “That’s what disturbs me.”
Fazier said he’s never avoided taking a class because he couldn’t afford to pay for a textbook, but he has dodged textbook costs by photocopying from a friend. Fazier couldn’t do that this time; however, and his wallet is now $300 lighter.
“It kind of worries me because I worked all summer to blow all my money on books,” he said.