Transcendent Tertiary: Textbook Costs

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/why-are-textbooks-so-expensive-in-australia-20160229-gn6djg.html

Normally this would be a news post, but I do actually have some tips to help with this one and the article at least highlights the problem a little bit.

My own experience with textbooks is that they are incredibly expensive and depending on the field, almost impossible to resell. In some places, there are buyback options, but it's almost damn near impossible to get rid of older textbooks or get secondhand books without needing to use textbook exchange or similar sites. My alumni (Flinders) attempted to mitigate the need for textbooks by selling readers, but even these came at a cost and in the case of my teaching degree, the cost was partially justified by the fact that many of the books required were actively used by current teachers in schools and was seen as a way of helping us build our own little "educational library." At least with the readers and the majority of the teaching books, they weren't any more than around $40-$50 at most, in comparison to some other items that went anywhere from $60-$180 in at least one case.

A reader is basically the required readings for uni bound into a book and divided by weeks. Depending on the subject, tutorial questions were also included. This had the positive effect of at least not requiring us to buy textbooks which got old real fast as the readers could be updated over time. (This did come with the payoff that readers could not be exchanged or refunded unless the lecturer/tutor made a huge error due to copyright)

This said, the costs of some textbooks are ridiculous. Law, Medicine and Science are among the worst offenders for textbook costs alone, while Social Sciences in general (along with the others mentioned) is one of the worst offenders for needing to constantly buy up-to-date books. To give you an example, I checked the Co-Op website (one of the more reliable textbook providers in the country) and selected a course from my alumni at more or less random.

For one first year nursing unit (out of around 4), there are 3 textbooks-combined, this makes up to around $400. Multiply expected costs by 4 and you're looking at around $1600+ for textbooks alone. While secondhand books are usually available, it's entirely based on luck and if you happen to know where to go.

So if you're unsure or hesitant with your textbook costs, what can you do?

- First, if you are taking a unit as an elective, consider if the cost of any textbooks is worth enrolling in the unit. It is not worth starving yourself for a "fun" unit.

- If the unit is a compulsory one, check to see if the older edition of the textbook is an acceptable option. While it is a bit tricky, it is possible to get older editions of a textbook secondhand, or the library will carry copies of that same book, which you can borrow for a certain period of time (some libraries will allow up to 4 weeks for the book and you can extend it for another 2)

- If there is a "package" set for the unit (ie textbook, workbook, CD-ROMs), you will unfortunately be required to purchase the pack as a whole. In some cases, some parts of the package might be also sold separately (ie a language book might have their audio CDs sold separately), but this is rare and if this the case, it's generally online-only. Please do not annoy the cashier by breaking it apart.

- Also check if the textbook is actually required-this also extends to checking the Extended Unit Outline available at most, if not all unis, which will outline how often the textbook actually gets used. If you find that it's not getting used all that often, or you're only using maybe 10% of the book, then consider going on the "borrow" option.

- If you DO want to go secondhand, book despoitory and Textbook Exchange are usually fairly reliable, but please exercise some common sense. That is, don't send money over the internet if you don't know the person, always arrange for meetups in a public place (the university would be even better) and try to get cash.

-If all of these options are exhausted, then you may want to prioritise what you do get. Readers are all but required in most cases. From there, I'd then look at the cheapest option and then leave the more expensive options until last.

- Alternately, consider buying them in instalments. Lay-by is generally not an option, but if, for example, you get paid fortnightly, then you'd buy 1-2 textbooks one paycheck and 1-2 the next one.

- Finally, if your uni has that option, see if they'll do buybacks at the end of the semester. You won't get much back for your book, but you'll at least get rid of it!