Anyone who has recently bought textbooks from the UConn Co-op knows that you might need a suitcase or wheelbarrow full of money just to cover the expanding cost of that particular edition or class supplement. Publishers say that textbook prices have remained flat for last few years. However, students in ECON 1010 or PSYC 1303 might beg to differ, or any recent lecture course, mind you.
One thing that students could do is use each and every school break to raise the majority of funds needed to cover the price of textbooks for that semester. Yet there is a hidden opportunity for the UConn Co-op to aid students further than just that one semester in covering the cost of textbooks. The prevailing tone of higher prices in this stagnant economy has students, as well as their parents, mindful of every penny. President Hogan formed a cost-cutting task force in November 2008 in response to a reduction of appropriations from the state to help refine the costs of the university passed down to the student.
Therefore, students might take stock in reducing their own spending and find savings where they can. Yet there might be a hidden marriage in savings for both the university and the student. The bookstore, or the coined UConn Co-op has an opportunity to help students save on course materials and textbooks.
It's called Open ISBN. The ISBN is a 10-digit number that uniquely identifies books published in the United States. The purpose of the ISBN is to establish and identify one title or edition of a textbook from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition. Unlike other colleges in Connecticut, the UConn Co-op does not provide the ISBN to students for cost comparison. According to a recent Boston Globe article, "the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time full-time student was $886 - almost three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees at a community college."
The Office of Financial Aid provides a yearly outlook of $800 dollars every year here at UConn for textbooks alone.
Moreover, the U.S. Government Accountability Office comments that, "In the last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation. Textbook prices have nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004."
Buying online or at other retailers in some situations might yield a great savings on textbooks. In some cases, the savings could be between 20 percent to 35 percent. Imagine, even a 10 percent savings on the yearly cost of textbooks or $80 dollars could net two weeks worth of gas (fairly estimated at $40 dollars per fill-up) for commuting students. The bookstore on campus, along with other colleges, provides a booklist. Students can then compare prices of textbooks among different venues. However, the Co-op's list does not provide the ISBN, making the comparison process more difficult. might use these other bookstores as a reference.
In response to concerns that the availability of ISBNs for textbooks might negatively effect textbook sales, and the concierge service at the UConn Co-op, I offer an idea outside the box of increased textbook revenue. Imagine, a potential student taking some of the book savings for that semester and buying a Husky Jacket or more school supplies because now he or she has an extra couple of dollars to do so. Agreeably, as the U.S. Government Accountability office says, "The college textbook market is complex, comprised of many publishers, retailers, and used book wholesalers." I would add to this equation the UConn Co-op and students.
In sum, the UConn Co-op has a hidden opportunity to help these students save on course material and textbooks in this uncertain economy. Help could be on the way. Conversely mounting textbook prices are one of a number of factors that are pushing higher education further out of reach of many young people in Connecticut and across this country.
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