After somehow footing the bill for $36,180 of tuition, $8,630 for average room and $4,800 for average board this year, most American U. students could stand to save a buck here or there.
The Eagle is here to help. Each issue, on page five, there will be a consumer report for those at AU to consult for advice on purchases made in and around campus.
Buying textbooks for class can sometimes feel like adding insult to injury to students and families already spending thousands.
The average first-time student at a four-year university paid up to $898 solely on textbooks for the 2003-2004 academic year, according to a July 2005 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That same report revealed that over the previous two decades, prices for college textbooks increased by twice the rate of inflation.
But this year, several things are on AU students’ side when they pay for college textbooks: the AU bookstore’s new rent-a-text program, the option of buying used instead of new, Amazon.com for students and the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Rental and used textbooks
For the first time, the American University Campus Store is offering students the option of renting their textbooks for the semester. There are advantages and disadvantages to doing this as opposed to buying used.
One advantage: It affords greater up-front savings.
The rental price of a textbook generally tends to be about half the price of buying new, according to Helen Ricotta, assistant manager at the American University Campus Store. The price of a used book can be around 30 percent less than that of a new, according to Ricotta.
Renting guarantees those savings. When a student buys a used textbook, the price may only be 30 percent off a new book, but if they sell it back to the bookstore, they can receive half of what they paid for it originally.
Let’s say you have to buy a textbook that is worth $100 new. Should you rent or buy used? Depends.
If you rent, you will only pay about $50. If you buy used, you pay $70 upfront. But if you sell the book back at the end of the year you could get up to $35 back, giving you a total savings of $65 from buying it new.
Renting gives you the advantage of up-front savings, but in buying used, there is no guarantee that you will be able to sell the book back at the end of the semester, according to Ricotta. The bookstore only buys back what it will need, which it does not know until professors put in their orders for the next semester, she said.
In addition, a used book is not always available for sale at the bookstore, in which case the rental option becomes the only way to save.
“If the new book is all we have, renting is absolutely the best bet,” Ricotta said. “We’re really excited about rental because it really is a savings.”
Amazon Student
Amazon.com touts 30 percent savings on new textbooks and 90 percent savings on used textbooks offered for sale through the website, but this year many have joined Amazon Student to take advantage of free two-day shipping for a year as well as other advantages.
Amazon Student is “a free membership program created especially for college students,” who can sign up using their school e-mail address, according to the website.
In addition, members of the program receive exclusive discounts on Amazon products for which they receive notifications on their student e-mail.
Many have found real savings using websites like Amazon, as well as on the site Half.com (an eBay company) and other sites. Plus, you never know what may be for sale on Craigslist.
Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA)
The textbook provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act went into effect July 1 for the purposes of “decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale and use of course materials,” the law reads.
One key provision prohibits publishers from bundling supplemental materials like CDs with textbooks. Supplemental materials often drive costs higher.
The HEOA also establishes that publishers must release to the faculty who choose course materials certain information. This includes the price at which publishers will sell books at campus stores, descriptions of content revisions from previous editions and other forms in which the textbook may be available (such as paperback, unbound etc.).
Ricotta said she does not often see a change in the book’s edition required by AU professors. They do not change the edition required for the class if the changes in the book are minor.
Furthermore, among several other provisions, the HEOA amendment says that a link to the campus bookstore or the ISBN number of course materials must be listed alongside online course registration so that students will know the exact books they will be required to access for the class.
Another report from the GAO, to come out by July 1, 2013, is also required under the HEOA provision, with information on the availability of college textbook information and the availability of pricing information to faculty from publishers.
Staff writer Tamar Hallerman contributed to this report.
mfowler@theeagleonline.com
price CHECK
Example: the cost of a General Education, Area 1, first level textbook
“Biological Science”
Author: Scott Freeman
Edition: 4th
ISBN: 9780321598202
American University Campus Store:
New: $197.00
Used: $147.75
Rent: $88.65 (Return date 12/18/2010)
Amazon:
New: $176.50
Used: $174.90
Half.com:
New: $179.95
Like New: $180.00
Good: $179.99
Example: the cost of a General Education, Area 3, first level textbook
“International Relations”
Author: Joshua S. Goldstein and Jon C. Pevehouse
Edition: 9th
ISBN: 9780205780211
American University Campus Store:
New: $124.25
Used: $93.25
Rent: $55.91 (Return date 12/18/2010)
Amazon:
New: $111.97
Used: $111.98
Half.com:
New: $106.75
Like New: $106.75
Good: $111.98
Example: the cost of a General Education, Area 4, first level textbook
“Macroeconomics”
Author: David C. Colander
Edition: 8th
ISBN: 9780077247171
American University Campus Store:
New: $159.25
Used: $119.50
Amazon:
New: $98.24
Used: $85.00
Half.com:
New: $102.45
Like New: $100.00
Good: $99.99
Example: the cost of a mathematics requirement textbook
“Intro to Practice of Statistics”
(with CD)
Author: David Moore, George P. McCabe and Bruce Craig
Edition: 6th
ISBN: 9781429216227
American University Campus Store:
New: $159.00
Used: $119.25 (no more copies available for this semester)
Amazon (prices listed were lowest offered by press time):
New: $78.94
Used: $75.00
Half.com:
New: $75.00
Like New: $74.90
Good: $75.00
(All prices checked Aug. 29)