Beating the high cost of textbooks

"When Oakwood resident Jessie Lappin started a nursing program at Danville Area Community College last year, she was prepared to shell out about $1,500 in tuition for her first semester. She can't say the same about her books, which totaled about $1,200. 'I had some financial aid, but it didn't cover everything,' said Lappin, who had to borrow money from family to pay for her books. While she and other college students are well aware that course materials are part of the cost of a college education, Lappin believes some textbook prices have gotten out of hand. 'I paid over $200 for a book that we used for two weeks, and then we were done with it. I wanted to sell it back to the bookstore, but they wouldn't take it because (the publisher) came out with a new edition the next semester,' recalled Lappin. That also has been a problem when she has tried to buy used textbooks at a reduced rate, Lappin said. 'Every time I go to buy a book, it seems like (the edition) is always changing,' she said, adding there's no real discernible difference between editions as far as she can tell. 'You end up having to pay full price for a book that you only use one semester and never pick up again,' added fellow nursing student Katie Murdoch of Fairmount. This summer, Lappin and Murdoch are taking Introduction to Microbiology at DACC. It comes with a textbook, if students want to pay the price. However, instructor Wendy Brown said the book isn't mandatory, and students can get through the course using her lecture note packet, available at the bookstore for $12, and a lab manual she created, available for about $4. Brown is one of a growing number of instructors at DACC and Parkland College in Champaign, who, like their students, are frustrated with the high cost of traditional hardcover, full-color textbooks. For that reason and others, they are turning to less expensive alternatives, such as online books and materials, custom books, trade books and book rentals — and even creating their own materials — when possible to help reduce the overall cost of college for students.  'When you talk about Achieving the Dream, one of the barriers of getting a college education is the cost, and textbooks are a part of that cost,' said Rich Pate, the social sciences lead professor at DACC.  Pate was referring to Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, a national initiative aimed at helping community college students — particularly minority and low-income students and others who face the most significant barriers to success — meet their education goals. DACC has been part of the reform effort, which aims to increase college completion rates, since 2009.  According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, released this June, college textbook prices increased at a rate three times the rate of inflation over the last decade, with textbooks for introductory subjects frequently costing more than $200 apiece.  Pate cited a 2012 survey of college students in Florida by the Florida Distance Learning Consortium that was funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant. It was authorized by the Florida Legislature to determine how much students paid for textbooks in the spring 2012 semester and how the cost affected them financially and academically.  Of the 22,129 participants — who represented all 11 state universities and 22 of Florida's 28 colleges, community colleges and state colleges — 31 percent of the Florida students reported not registering for a class, 35 percent took fewer courses, 14 percent dropped a course and 11 percent withdrew due to the cost of textbooks.  Also, 63 percent reported not having purchased the required book and nearly one-fourth reported doing without frequently ..."