With the blow from the recession still lingering even after a year, some students at Tufts are watching as their families struggle to pay for the cost of a college education. On top of tuition, the beginning of each semester brings the added costs of buying books for classes.
For a full academic year, the cost of tuition alone equals $39,432. The total cost for an underclassman is $51,088 with all fees added in. For most students on campus, with or without financial aid, this is a significant sum. When books and other fees or materials are required for a course, it ups the price considerably. These high textbook costs have persuaded both students and faculty to seek out a more budget-friendly option.
Director of Financial Aid Patricia Reilly explained why textbook costs are not included in tuition bills.
"Tuition is a standard amount which includes instructional costs," she said. "Materials such as books are an extra expense, which can vary considerably by course. When you buy a book, you own it for the rest of your life and are free to highlight it and make notes in it."
Many students, however, find themselves asking if they will use their books at all. Students often wonder why their books cost so much or if they will be using them significantly during the semester. Worries related to buying books run the gamut from anxiety about putting textbooks on credit cards to fearing that the books will be discontinued for the next semester, making them unable to be returned.
"You use them for a semester and then you sell them back to the bookstore, looking brand new, for just a fraction of the cost that you bought them for," senior Prachi Godiwala said. "Most times, I don't even use the textbook. Classes with too many books make me not want to take those classes. If it's a class I really want to take, the cost of books shouldn't be a factor in whether I take it or not."
Reilly encouraged students worried about the cost of books to talk to a financial aid counselor and not let the issue dissuade them from taking a particular course.
"We encourage financial aid students who are having trouble paying for their books to come to our office and talk with their financial aid counselor," she said. "We will work with the student to come up with a solution, such as buying or borrowing used books, taking out a student loan or receiving an extension so that the student can buy the books now and pay them off from their work study earnings."
Even for students not on financial aid, the extra costs of college eat a hole in the average student budget — one
that many believe to be unnecessary.
Students said they have spent as much as $800 on textbooks per semester. Taking into account such significant costs, many students are displeased by courses that require a large number of texts for the class regardless of how much the professor uses them.
Senior Alexandra Helling was one of the students dismayed by the price of textbooks. "To have to buy very expensive books every semester is just another example of college student exploitation," she said. "The content updates, the Barnes and Noble mark-ups … It's very unfair."
Another recurring issue among students is the fast pace with which textbook companies offer new editions, making books of previous editions lose all resale value.
"Since [professors] change books so much, I end up with a library of books I'll never use again, and I lose the money I would've gotten by selling them back," said a Tufts junior who wished to remain anonymous.
This leads to suggestions like one from senior Jenny Karo, who suggested that extra material outside of the textbook be printed and distributed for the class.
"There is so much stuff that can be done in pamphlets. I don't mind so much with my science classes, because the books last forever and we normally read all of it. But classes where you don't actually get tested on the book material — it is called a supplement and should not have to be purchased," she said.
Many departments on campus are trying to reduce the need for excessive student spending by making course readers available online. Some will print out copies of readings or the course readers themselves for students, but this is not always an option for larger booklets and manuals.
Some departments have made it standard practice to go to copy shops like Gnomon Copy in order to print larger readers — a middle-of-the-road approach that is still cheaper than the cost of a textbook but does not put the burden of printing on the professor.
"We just don't have the means to print out the larger booklets for everyone," English Department Administrator Wendy Medeiros said.
When it comes down to a choice between course readers and textbooks, the overwhelming majority of students seem to favor course readers — even if they require a walk to Boston Ave. The large difference in average prices between course readers and textbooks leaves many students understandably leaning towards course readers as a better way to go, even to the point of preferring them over the free online materials.
"I'd almost rather pay for a reader in some courses, because reading on Blackboard is annoying," a Tufts senior who wished to remain anonymous said.
Helling drew on her experience as a study-abroad student last year to offer some alternatives to the dramatic costs associated with the American college experience.
"In other countries, they think it is ridiculous to require students, who are often not extravagantly wealthy at this point, to buy loads of books, and so [they] give [students] options: better libraries, different sources, electronic content, less required purchases," she said.
