As textbook prices soar, students look

While professors nationwide have voiced complaints over annual textbook updates, which prevent students from selling back books or buying used editions, Boston University students and faculty say they look to online bookstores and course supplements to cut costs.

"With subjects like science [or] astronomy, if there's new information that comes out, it's not the textbook manufacturer's fault if they reprint to include the new information," College of Communication freshman Jessica Arriens said. "It is, however, their fault if they choose to reprint an edition of something like Shakespeare."

In addition to Thompson Educations Publishing, large book publishers such as McGraw-Hill Companies and Pearson Education Inc. produce the bulk of textbook available at Barnes & Noble at BU.

BU bookstore's Assistant Store Manager John Styles said the rate of revision depends on the material the book covers.

"Some books come out faster than others," he said. "It depends on the subject matter. A good rule of thumb is with something like English, they tend to not be revised, but if it's something like Computer Science or Technology, they tend to come out in three-year cycles."

College of Arts and Sciences professor Matthew Caswell uses a book by Thompson Educational Publishing for his philosophy course. He said despite significant updates to his course's textbook every few years, annual updates only contain minor changes.

"Usually, it's just a different order," he said. "Slight changes here and there."

Math and Statistics department chairman Steven Rosenberg said while the textbook changes are usually a result of student or faculty requests, the changes rarely affect the content.

"New editions reflect feedback from students and faculty on old editions," he said. "So they tend to be fine tunings of old editions."

Caswell said looking for second-hand books is one way to cut the cost, but it is not always a dependable option anymore.

"When I was in school, I went to look for things used," he said. "It's hard to do that with newer editions."

Styles said the BU bookstore is making a stronger effort to encourage students to sell books back.

"We have been more aggressive about buying back used books to keep on the shelves," he said. "We're even putting advertisements on Post-It Notes."

Arriens said she succeeded in reselling her books back to the BU bookstore, but found the refund to be insubstantial because of pending editions due out the following semester.

"I try to sell books at the end of the semester because I want to make money off of them," she said. "It's not as much money as I'd like, but what can you do?"

COM freshman Nyssa Gesch said she hopes to get a greater reimbursement for her textbooks online.

"I try to sell my books back to Barnes & Noble or online," she said. "I haven't been able to sell any online yet and Barnes & Noble only gives you a few bucks."

Styles said the rewards are greater if you sell your books back at the end of the spring semester, rather than at the end of first semester.

"The more book orders we have, the more money we will pay out before the end of the semester," he said. " In May, it's usually the best time."

Rosenberg said while he thinks the yearly updates are unnecessary, textbooks in general are not worth the cost.

"New textbook editions aren't the problem," he said. "The price of textbooks is the problem."

Caswell agreed with the cost being a problem, but said the cost has more to do with the BU bookstore rather than the publishing companies.

"I think that Barnes & Noble at BU is overpriced," he said. "But that's not the publishers' fault."

Rosenberg recognized the benefit of buying books online.

"Sometimes online prices for new books are cheaper than Barnes & Noble prices," he said.

College of Engineering sophomore Johanna Jacob said some students resort to buying books overseas, although the page numbers and content can vary.

"I personally buy my used books at Barnes & Noble to save money," she said. "But I have friends who get international editions in order to save money."

Rosenberg said while textbook companies and the BU bookstore increase the cost of textbooks, the faculty works to ensure that students get their money's worth.

"We slowly convert to the new edition, so students who start a two or three semester sequence with an old edition do not have to buy the new edition," he said. "Students have to buy the new edition only if they start a math [or] stats sequence after the new edition has come out."

Psychology department chairman Howard Eichenbaum opts to use his own text.

"I use a paperback book that I wrote myself," he said. "It's perfect for the course, because it was written specifically for my course and relatively inexpensive."