Rising Textbook Costs Prevent Students to Enroll in Required Courses
Read Time:2 Minute, 8 Second
Students at Rutgers Camden have been increasingly distressed about the ability to afford required textbooks for their courses. After tuition and even housing costs for some students, high textbook pricing is requiring individuals to have to seek difficult alternatives and even reconsider their enrollment in the course entirely. During university syllabus week professors teaching their courses are required to assign materials and college students face a multitude of costs after tuition.
Many college courses start before the first day of class. Required online textbooks need students to gain specific codes that allow them to access the book. These required codes limit students from being able to rent used copies of the readings, share, or find discounted versions of the books online.
“Some students have been able to manage the courseload by borrowing the textbooks from a classmate; however, it almost always puts them at a severe disadvantage,” said a Rutgers Camden Nursing academic advisor. Students not having the access code pauses their ability to complete assignments, quizzes, and homework which are often linked to these digital textbooks, making students behind in their studies.
“Textbooks were expensive and coming to the United States here on a student visa, I never felt like skipping out on the courses I needed to take was an appropriate option for me so, I had to find ways to make it work” said Joshua Chidi-Bernard, a Rutgers Camden alumni graduate student.
Students have been navigating ways to afford these textbooks at the beginning of each semester. Often students have the ability to share textbooks with each other, or rent used copies of regular books and eBooks to make it more cost efficient. In some cases, students may have to unenroll from a course due to the inability to obtain the required textbook and materials in a timely manner.
According to EducationData.org, college textbook prices have increased drastically over the last ten years, adding significant financial pressure to students already trying to manage expenses and tuition costs.
“I tried to go about it as if textbooks were an investment into not only my education but other people’s lives as well,” said Chidi-Bernard. “As a new grad working with pharmaceuticals, you realize that someone else’s life is in your hands every day.”
University advisors and faculty encourage students to seek out financial assistance and campus support if they are unable to pay for their textbooks. Still, numerous students on campus feel the burden and hardships of textbook prices on top of tuition.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
