I appreciate the fact that you want to help students contain the cost of course materials throughout their college years. However, you seem to place inordinant amount of blame for the cost of a textbook on individual bookstores. I am an employee of one such store and have been for two years; and a graduate of the university we serve. The store is privately owned (not opperated by Follett, Nebraska, MBS, ect…) While I am glad you take an interest in lowering the cost of education, I would have liked to see a well researched article, rather than a blanket indictment of college bookstores with only a single school referenced (and that store appearently not contacted based on a lack of testimony.) There are pros and cons for any method of textbook aquision, but you failed to mention any cons assiotiated with textbook rental (if I were more cynical I would suspect some collusion on your part with a textbook rental organization.) There are obvious pros to ASU’s program, but for that system to work effectively it likely requires extensive cooperation from the faculty and administration (ASU’s rental program is ONLY availible to ASU students, suggesting some university involvement.) Rental programs can save students money, but only if that is their intention. If a university has contracted with a national wholesaler (see above), their interests may not coinside with the individual interests of the students. The same holds true with many online renters. In addtion to that, most college bookstores I have seen do not publish their their own books, they buy them from a publisher at a given cost and mark them up (to pay for overhead, student employees, POS systems, websites, ect.) around 20%-25%, its called a standard operating procedure. Please, my friend, if you feel like making a difference do your due diligence and research someting before you wright it. Here are a couple of links that may be a bit out of date, but nonetheless unbiased. www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/txtbkpres/hershmansup1.pdf, http://www.camex.org/…/ExploringTextbookRental_3-7_HO6_Informational.pdf. This is an important issue, please respond. I will be happy to discuss anything I have said, privately or publicly, at your discression.

Thanks,
Jason Hale

Thank you for your response.

I’m not comparing apples with apples, rather apples with oranges. Apples are the purchase of new textbooks while oranges are the rental of the same. There is a clear price difference, one that sixteen states recognize and have decided to do something about, by offering students real alternatives.

Unfortunately, many colleges and universities are in cahoots with bookstores, as evidenced by the requirements that students purchase a special edition of a certain book:

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/infolaw/2008/07/10/custom-textbooks/

This practice is outrageous and speaks to what I have long held — many college bookstores are profit-making enterprises who routinely contribute (kick back) some of this money to the college. Thusly, I don’t just blame the bookstores but the college themselves.

Regards,
Matt Keegan
.-= Matt Keegan´s last blog ..How To Help Your Clients (When They Aren’t Even Asking) =-.

We are all about students getting the most VALUE for their textbook dollar. In fact, we are proud that more than 100 NACS members offer textbook rental options — Appalachian State being among them.

In addition, the vast majority of our more than 3,000 college store members work hard to provide affordably-priced used textbooks.

In addition, our members are promoting a new web site that we developed in conjunction with the IRS: http://www.textbookaid.org, how students can take best advantage of the new Textbook Tax Credit.

Listen, I’m not saying that in all cases the college bookstore is cheaper, but neither is it always more expensive or the villian that you seem to deem them. A recent Florida study found that students purchasing new college textbooks online saved an average of only $2.15 per item. In fact, online prices were HIGHER for 27% of the textbooks examined by the study.

–Sincerly,
Charles Schmidt, Dir. or PR
Nat’l. Assn. of College Stores