3 ms·

Incredible! Now how about those exorbitant fees and the price of textbooks!?

the_only_law 6y ago
I never went to school, but have found that many books I want to read (incl. texbooks) can be found easily as a pdf with a google search (although this is becoming less common for me, sadly). I once, suggested to a struggling friend that instead of paying for a textbook, they should see if they could find it in such a way. Turns out, many newer book require codes to unlock assignments that can only be had by purchasing the book.
rootusrootus 6y ago
I can only speak to my personal experience, but I've found most of the textbook requirements for my OMSCS classes to be available online if I want them, generally for free through the university itself. I've been buying them anyway, because I like to have a paper copy, and because my company is willing to pony up for them. But it's not really a requirement.
fabian2k 6y ago
You might have to discourage professors from requiring specific textbooks to achieve this. To me this seems like a mostly US-specific phenomenon, while textbooks were somewhat expensive here in Germany, not to the same degree as in the US. I think my most expensive book was 80 EUR, most were cheaper than that. And almost no textbooks were actually required in the courses, most of the time you were free to choose between several options, and using older editions was not an issue. If the courses require specific textbooks in specific editions, the students don't have a choice and have to accept excessive prices.
- underseacables 6y ago
  It’s a captive audience problem. Same reason why a bottle of water can cost $8 in an airport, students are required to buy specific textbooks, sold through limited outlets. Textbooks sometimes get wrapped in to the loans which is also why schools charge so much. What bothers me are the fees, from parking to wellness to lab fees, while administrators make six figure salaries. Universities are such a financial imbalance of corruption.

I never went to school, but have found that many books I want to read (incl. texbooks) can be found easily as a pdf with a google search (although this is becoming less common for me, sadly). I once, suggested to a struggling friend that instead of paying for a textbook, they should see if they could find it in such a way. Turns out, many newer book require codes to unlock assignments that can only be had by purchasing the book.

rootusrootus 6y ago

I can only speak to my personal experience, but I've found most of the textbook requirements for my OMSCS classes to be available online if I want them, generally for free through the university itself. I've been buying them anyway, because I like to have a paper copy, and because my company is willing to pony up for them. But it's not really a requirement.

fabian2k 6y ago

You might have to discourage professors from requiring specific textbooks to achieve this. To me this seems like a mostly US-specific phenomenon, while textbooks were somewhat expensive here in Germany, not to the same degree as in the US. I think my most expensive book was 80 EUR, most were cheaper than that. And almost no textbooks were actually required in the courses, most of the time you were free to choose between several options, and using older editions was not an issue. If the courses require specific textbooks in specific editions, the students don't have a choice and have to accept excessive prices.

underseacables 6y ago
It’s a captive audience problem. Same reason why a bottle of water can cost $8 in an airport, students are required to buy specific textbooks, sold through limited outlets. Textbooks sometimes get wrapped in to the loans which is also why schools charge so much. What bothers me are the fees, from parking to wellness to lab fees, while administrators make six figure salaries. Universities are such a financial imbalance of corruption.