“Custom” Textbooks Eat Away at Student Savings
Textbook costs seem to make headlines every few months for their ability to strip students of hundreds of dollars every year-there’s even an activist group devoted to making textbooks affordable! The latest headline? Some schools have found a new way to make students pay more for textbooks-and they’re making money off the deal, too.
“Customized” - Translation: “More Expensive”
While some professors distribute customized photocopied texts to save their students a buck, others’ version of “customized” means a textbook custom-printed by a major publishing house-and believe it or not, these books are labeled as REQUIRED.
According to the Wall Street Journal, these custom textbooks aren’t always very customized. In fact, one customized textbook required for University of Alabama writing courses is merely a previously written textbook with info from U of A’s website included in it with the school’s name printed across the front. It also costs about $30 more than a used version of the non-custom copy.
Feed the School, Starve the Students?
These books can drain a college student’s scanty savings account, but colleges don’t seem to mind. Some colleges are making a significant royalty on each customized textbook sold to their students, and then prohibit students from selling used copies to each other! (The WSJ article estimates these royalties to range from $3 - $10 per book.) Even worse, sometimes professors receive royalties as well.
Keeping Down Textbook Costs
With gas prices, food costs, and college fees and tuition all straining the student budget, there’s little room for extra textbook costs. When you can, it’s best to buy used-and generally not from the on-campus bookstores which tend to mark up even used books.
There are many websites where students can find used books-some even provide savings on shipping by matching a student with other students in their area so they can make the exchange on campus. Here are a couple of places for your student to search out used books:
Avoid the High Price of Textbooks by Renting
But what if students can rent books instead of buying them? That’s the business model behind a company called Chegg. The company declares itself as “the Netflix for college textbooks.” Students place their order online for the books they wish to rent. Chegg then ships the books to students’ residences. Students mail the books back to Chegg with prepaid shipping labels at the end of the semester. Chegg claims that its rental model can save students 60% - 80% off the price of a book.
All the best,
Deborah Fox
Deborah Fox is the founder of Fox College Funding®, a nationwide company that helps families find creative ways to reduce their college costs
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