Though it is almost the end of the second week of the fall quarter, Ivan Lai, a fourth-year economics student, has refrained from buying his textbooks because he considers them to be expensive.
“I think textbooks are so expensive. When you think about it, a course reader that is less than a hundred pages costs about $30-40,” Lai said.
Every quarter, students are faced with the high prices of textbooks that continually rise every year.
The Office of the Chancellor, beginning last spring, appointed a task force aimed at reducing textbook prices and implementing new textbook programs.
Antoinette Mongelli, UCLA assistant chancellor, was asked by Chancellor Gene Block to put together a committee, which includes members of the Academic Senate, Associated Students UCLA, the UCLA Library and representatives of the Chancellor’s office.
According to a September statement from Scott Waugh, acting executive vice chancellor and provost, the costs of textbooks have risen at twice the rate of inflation in the last 20 years.
Students, on average, spend about $1,000 per year on textbooks alone.
Due to the high rise of textbooks, it is considered more likely for some students to forgo or delay attending college, according to a report by the California Bureau of State Audits.
The task force implemented by Chancellor Block explored possible options to help students save money, and new programs were implemented at the beginning of the fall quarter.
“We did a number of things for the fall,” said Neil Yamaguchi, director of academic support of ASUCLA.
One of the programs was a textbook rental program implemented this fall.
But the selection of the textbook rental program is very limited, and there are currently only about 20 titles.
“But we expect our selection to expand,” Yamaguchi said.
The textbook buyback program also allows students to sell their textbooks after they are done with them at the end of each quarter, and they generally receive about 50 percent of what they paid for, Yamaguchi said.
In addition, student’s association board of directors approved a price reduction of $650,000 for the upcoming year, Yamaguchi said.
“The $650,000 price reduction allowed us to be more competitive compared to Amazon or Borders,” Yamaguchi said.
ASUCLA has also implemented a price-match guarantee.
If a student brings in proof of a better price of a textbook from a major competitor, ASUCLA will match the price, Yamaguchi said.
Purchasing used textbooks is also another option for students to save money.
“We’re probably the largest supplier of used textbooks,” Yamaguchi said.
Bruinwalk.com, a Student Media Web site that allows students to purchase used textbooks from other students, is another option that can be explored.
“Obviously it’s a good avenue for students to share resources and to get their course material. We basically support any efforts on the part of the campus for students to save money,” Yamaguchi said.
Digital textbooks are also available in the eBook format, which allows students to read the text on their personal computers.
Not all of the titles are available on eBook, but if the instructor allows it, their textbook will be sold as an eBook option, Yamaguchi said.
Course readers are other popular options instructors can use to help students save money on purchasing multiple textbooks.
“They help save money when the instructor only needs a portion of a book. It eliminates the need for the students to buy every book to read just one chapter,” Yamaguchi said.
The UCLA Library is currently employing ASUCLA to research licensing options.
“We’re just looking at licensing agreements to make sure if certain content is licensed specifically for our campus, so we don’t have to pay twice,” Yamaguchi said.
“We’re still in research mode, so we don’t know what’s available out there,” he said.
In a statement, Waugh also emphasized that faculty and administrators can help reduce the costs of textbooks by purchasing them early.
The teaching faculty also provided help in deciding the quantity of specific books to purchase, depending on the classes that are to be taught in the upcoming quarters, Mongelli said.
“We reduce the textbook prices by not ordering too little or too much,” she said.
“This is an ongoing task force. By all means, we are not done yet. We’ve made a great push this year to implement a number of programs. The programs we’ve introduced this fall will hopefully continue,” Yamaguchi said.
“We have to do the best in providing material for our campus,” he said.