College student woes: buying textbooks

The beginning of the semester always brings up one very important issue: textbooks. Where, when and how to get them are issues debated amongst many Aggies here at Utah State.

Iain Laurence, a double major in French and art said that he generally will buy textbooks from either the Campus store or off of Amazon.

“I spent about $109 for an American Government textbook,” Laurence said, “I sold it back to Amazon for only $6 because a new edition was released.

Laurence said that he generally decides on whether to buy or rent based on which is a better deal.

“When it comes to the dedicated textbooks,” Laurence said, “I get the feeling that after I’m done with the class I’ll never use it again. I either rent or sell those kind of textbooks.”

He will also sometimes rent ebooks if he can find a good deal for them. Laurence said that he can understand why hardcopy textbooks can be expensive, but he doesn’t agree with the high prices that sometimes come with ebooks.

“Textbooks are really expensive!” he said, “I like when professors tell us we don’t really need them for their class because that saves a lot of money.”

Kate Nielsen, an anthropology major and a freshman, is not a fan of the textbook buying process.

“I get my textbooks after the first week of classes,” Nielsen said, “that way I don’t end up paying for a book I never use.”

She also generally rents them and said that she could never see herself keeping a textbook for future use.

“I haven’t even opened three of the textbooks I ordered for this semester yet,” Nielsen said, “to be honest, I probably won’t ever.”

She believes that the high prices and low usage of textbooks make the entire process completely frustrating.

“This semester I spent about $200 on textbooks,” Nielsen said, “textbooks are a rip-off.”

Heather Nielsen, a marketing major, generally buys her textbooks at the beginning of the semester.

“Occasionally,” she said, “I wait until after class has started to absolutely make sure I need the book.”

The most she has ever spent on books is the $350 she used for the fall semester.

“I generally buy new ones,” Heather said, “but that’s only because by the time I get my books, the used ones are all gone.”

An advocate for buying from the campus store, she said that buying off of Amazon is always a risky process.

“I’ll definitely keep my philosophy textbook,” Heather said, “I read that leisurely.”

— savannah.lund@aggiemail.usu.edu

@savannah_lund