Cents and Senseless Pricing: A Rebuttal
Issue date: 9/8/09 Section: Opinion
Getting an education is always an expensive undertaking, it's not a free process. Some students are able and willing to pay between $10,000 and $25,000 a semester for the same quality education that costs significantly less at Eastern. It's a matter of choice and opportunity. Thus, the cost of books compared to the total cost of one's education is relatively minor. It's very easy to climb on one's soapbox as Mr. Harman has done and decry the high cost of education and accuse the publishing industry and the campus bookstore of exploiting students for the benefit of its "well-padded pockets." But in the interest of fairness, let's examine a few of his accusations against the publishing industry and the bookstore.
First, on the choice of a textbook. Most professors are very aware of the high cost of textbooks. They usually try to find the best textbook for the cheapest price for their classes. But each professor must select the textbook that best compliments his or her course and teaching method. Unlike the situation in many public schools where the school board (state or local) adopts a text for all students to use, in the university professors choose the text they feel is best for their students; this is not just an economic issue but a pedagogical one and the student's judgment about which text is best for the class is not better than the professor's. Students also have the choice of buying either a new text in which they can mark the areas that are important to them or a well-used text that may or may not have been taken care of, or is heavily marked by previous owners with telephone numbers, notes to friends, incoherent messages, or underlining in heavy purple marker. The student decides which version to buy. There are other sources of books than the campus bookstore, students may also buy online and many do. Again, this is a matter of choice and convenience.
Second, on the revision cycle. Textbooks take many years to develop and write. The chapters are all extensively reviewed by experts and all of the ancillary features we expect (photos, maps and sidebars) have to be created, purchased or permissions to use obtained. None of this just happens, employees, developers, and contractors have to be hired and paid. Does any graduate from this university expect to work for free? Textbooks become obsolete for a variety of reasons, in some fields ongoing research leads to new conclusions or interpretations, chapters are expanded or rearranged for reasons of pedagogy and ease of use by the student. Granted the principles of algebra or chemistry may not have changed significantly in the last fifty years, but does any student today want to use a book that was published in 1949? Also, the used book market, although a benefit for students, provides no profit to either the publisher or the author. All used books are obtained from wholesalers, who collect books sold by students at the end of the semester and then supply a huge resale market from which they alone make a profit. This is good for students, but bad for publishers; thus new editions help to redress the economic disadvantage of the free market.
First, on the choice of a textbook. Most professors are very aware of the high cost of textbooks. They usually try to find the best textbook for the cheapest price for their classes. But each professor must select the textbook that best compliments his or her course and teaching method. Unlike the situation in many public schools where the school board (state or local) adopts a text for all students to use, in the university professors choose the text they feel is best for their students; this is not just an economic issue but a pedagogical one and the student's judgment about which text is best for the class is not better than the professor's. Students also have the choice of buying either a new text in which they can mark the areas that are important to them or a well-used text that may or may not have been taken care of, or is heavily marked by previous owners with telephone numbers, notes to friends, incoherent messages, or underlining in heavy purple marker. The student decides which version to buy. There are other sources of books than the campus bookstore, students may also buy online and many do. Again, this is a matter of choice and convenience.
Second, on the revision cycle. Textbooks take many years to develop and write. The chapters are all extensively reviewed by experts and all of the ancillary features we expect (photos, maps and sidebars) have to be created, purchased or permissions to use obtained. None of this just happens, employees, developers, and contractors have to be hired and paid. Does any graduate from this university expect to work for free? Textbooks become obsolete for a variety of reasons, in some fields ongoing research leads to new conclusions or interpretations, chapters are expanded or rearranged for reasons of pedagogy and ease of use by the student. Granted the principles of algebra or chemistry may not have changed significantly in the last fifty years, but does any student today want to use a book that was published in 1949? Also, the used book market, although a benefit for students, provides no profit to either the publisher or the author. All used books are obtained from wholesalers, who collect books sold by students at the end of the semester and then supply a huge resale market from which they alone make a profit. This is good for students, but bad for publishers; thus new editions help to redress the economic disadvantage of the free market.