I like college. I really do. But the one thing that I cannot stand about it is how ridiculously expensive textbooks are. I understand that professors like certain texts and programs to use for their classes that are vital to their teaching styles, but there are literally hundreds of texts and sources that can be used in their stead. There are even funds that provide free textbooks for use, like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which offers dozens of online books for free downloads for several different subjects.
So, we are going to take a look through the years. Since 1977, the price in books has increased by 1,401% as of summer 2015. According to Nicole Allen, “[Publishers] are able to keep raising prices because students are ‘captive consumers.’ They have to buy whatever books they’re assigned.” It is hard enough to get through classes, but finding an affordable book is harder. The worst thing is that for some classes, there are required materials that are necessary to purchase because having the readings is part of your class grade. Students do not have any say in what textbooks get chosen for their classrooms, what supplemental programs they need, or what materials are required. Additional programs can be helpful, but they can be extremely expensive. Again, all of these books and programs are chosen by the professors with no input from the students.
So why do professors choose these books?
Well, some book providers give commissions to professors for having a certain number of students purchase their books, or to the college purchasing the books for their bookstores. It becomes a business deal at that point, not what is best for students. It makes it hard for students to truly believe that the institution is doing its best to provide them with the greatest education they can receive.
Having an education is no longer really an option if you want to have a successful career. Many jobs pay a summable amount more for starting salaries if the new hire has a graduate degree. It does not matter so much that another candidate has more experience and more qualifications than a candidate with the graduate degree. Perhaps the value of the degree comes with the money and the time that must be spent achieving the degree, and therefore it receives the better pay.
With so much pressure on being able to get a job right out of school, starting your career early, and not making too many mistakes, students have become more and more stressed out about not getting it right on the first try. Because of all the expenses going up, the payoff needs to, as well. People are choosing majors for the sake of what salary they can make, or worse yet, their parents are choosing their profession. This worsens the quality of education because of the number of students who do not study something with passion. In that case, the students are learning to memorize, not to appreciate knowledge and to fuel their curiosity. With a freethinking world, we need to encourage students to keep pursuing what they want to do in life, not what will let them live lofty lives.
