Which one of these costs of attending Wesleyan for the 2006-2007 academic year is not like the others?
(A) Tuition: $34,630
(B) Fees: $214
(C) Room: $5,808
(D) Board: $3,732
(E) Books/Miscellaneous: $2,310
If you answered (E), you get a gold star (and owe $46,694). While tuition, fees, and room and board are nonnegotiable, textbook costs can vary from year to year. And while there’s no avoiding that Wesleyan will be your landlord and Aramark will deliver the check after dinner, there are alternatives for buying and selling textbooks beyond the basement of Broad Street. It just takes a little work.
And therein lies the problem, unfortunately. Books can often be found at as much as half off online, but it’s easier to get the books all at once at the store. And while buyback can be as painful as a trip to the dentist, it’s a lot easier to accept $9 for a book you paid $60 for than posting an ad online and then packaging and shipping the book if someone decides to buy it.
Textbook publishers have found a goldmine in re-releasing books with nothing changed but the cover photo and a few paragraphs inside. And while it’s likely that the most you’ll do with the CD attached to the inside cover is lose it, don’t expect publishers to cut that added retail cost anytime soon. If students want to save on textbooks, they’ll have to take the extra steps themselves.
We also call on professors to keep their students in mind when preparing syllabi. No, we’re not asking professors to chose an inferior text just because it’s cheaper—instead, why not e-mail students at least a partial list of required books before the semester starts? With a little more time to seek out and purchase books elsewhere over the summer or winter break, students can not only save some cash, but also be prepared on the first day of class. And there’s something to be said for being prepared.
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