By Alex Faust
As students at Northeastern begin a new term, many will be bracing themselves for higher credit card bills and bank statements at the end of the month due to the increasing cost of textbooks.
College students spend nearly $950 each year on textbooks, according to a press release from The College Board. That figure will increase, according to the US Government Accountability Office which found in a 2005 study that textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation during the past two decades.
The Northeastern Bookstore, which is a branch of Barnes ‘ Noble, is the first stop for most students on campus. Aside from Huskies apparel and school supplies, thousands of students take advantage of the convenience that a campus location offers.
“Purchasing books online was surprisingly easy,” said Aaron Wolfe, a freshman chemical engineering major. “I was initially worried that I wouldn’t get any of my books used, but there were apparently lots of them, so it worked out great.”
The store is not feeling any ill effects of climbing prices. Business has not dropped despite increased competition from new and alternative sellers.
Tim Meisel, general manager for the Northeastern Bookstore, said there are several reasons why students continue to shop at Northeastern.
“We are the only bookstore location on campus,” Meisel said. “But unlike online stores, we will always have the books in stock that students need.”
One option to save money is to buy books used or to sell them back to the Northeastern Bookstore at the end of the term. While buying used books on campus may be 25 percent cheaper, some students are starting to look elsewhere for even better deals.
One alternative is StudentMarket.com, which gives students the opportunity to comparison-shop among bookstores and online retailers for the lowest price on new and used items.
Oren Milgram, director of student affairs for StudentMarket.com, described the services in a press release for the website: “Instead of the campus bookstore saying, ‘Here’s what we have to sell, who wants to buy it?’ Now, students are saying ‘Here’s what I want to buy, who wants to sell it to me at the lowest price?”
Besides newer services entering the market, established powerhouses have been selling lower-priced books for a while.
Keith Felt, a junior history major, used one retailer exclusively.
“I used [the] Barnes ‘ Noble website to buy all my textbooks, and probably saved about 50 bucks or so,” Felt said. “The delivery time wasn’t too bad. I ordered them the day before classes started and got them the first [full] week of school.”
Cheaper than buying books is using them for free, which leads many students to Snell Library. Lesley Milner dean for User Services at the library Lesley Milner has been aware of textbook prices and found a correlation between the increase in prices and library checkouts.
“Over the past 10 years, every year there is more demand for textbooks on reserve,” Milner said. “Book requests are up across the board, from every department.”
Donna Kennedy, head librarian for campus access services, said books from chemistry and engineering departments are checked-out more than others. These two majors also use more expensive textbooks, leading students to borrow rather than buy, Kennedy said.
Regardless of the options available, Northeastern is aware of the rapid increase in costs to the students, and is looking to do something about it. Chris Bourne, Student Government Association vice president for student services, is working on a proposal that would rent commonly used textbooks to students for a nominal fee.
“Northeastern would buy a batch of books, then use them for around four to five years,” Bourne said. “We’re going to be working on the details in the next few months.”
Bourne is aiming to start the program in September 2008, but he still remains realistic.
