Textbook prices up 25 percent

By Tawnie Bassett-Parkins
Special to the Daily Forty-Niner

The cost of textbooks and supplies has increased more than 25 percent since 1997 for Cal State University students in Southern California, according to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.

At Cal State Long Beach, students can expect to spend $810 for the year, compared with the national average of about $650, according to a report by the National Association of College Stores.

Like many students, Mila Shyne, a CSULB junior majoring in human development, experienced textbook sticker shock this semester, after revisions to one of her textbooks raised the price from $60 to about $97.

"Our professor said there were minor changes vs. the prior edition, but when we told her the price, she was like, --Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that much.'  I felt like that was a slap in the face, that she didn't even know how much the book cost," Shyne said.

Sandy Bocock, a junior majoring in psychology, said professors should consider cost, after quality, but before selecting textbooks.

"I think some professors do take into account our bank accounts," Bocock said.

However, the $82 she spent on a statistics book was, she said, "way out of line."

CSULB's bookstore's net profit was 6.7 percent last year compared with 4.7 percent for college bookstores nationwide, according to the association.   However, the bookstore also subsidizes unprofitable food operations, lowering overall profit to 3.4 percent, bookstore officials said.

Roman Gulon, chief executive officer and general manager of CSULB's Forty-Niner Shops Inc., the nonprofit corporation that operates University Bookstore, said textbook prices include a mark up of 20 to 25 percent to cover operating expenses. Nonessential items, such as clothing with CSULB or The Beach logos, are marked up 50 percent.

The bookstore retains only one percent as profit, Gulon said, although increased enrollment at CSULB last spring allowed the bookstore to reduce prices five to 12 percent.

Still, some students try to save money by buying their textbooks online or at off-campus bookstores.

Adrian Llamas, a psychology and social science senior said he routinely seeks out deals.

"As a general rule, I always go to Barnes and Noble first," he said. "I can usually order my textbooks and pay $7 to $10 less than [at] the campus bookstore."

A spot check of some required CSULB textbooks found savings of roughly $4 to $8.

Steve Magaña, manager of University Text in Long Beach, said his store offers healthy competition and may have spurred some recent actions by campus bookstore management to improve their buy-back policy.

However, Gulon said off-campus stores offer lower prices by "cherry-picking," selectively carrying only higher profit texts. Magaña said this does not occur at his store.

"We're not a cherry-picking store," Magaña said. "We carry 98 percent of the students' texts.  A few publishers just won't sell to us."

Magaña said his store offers lower prices because its operating costs are lower.

University Text has been in business about nine years and although Magaña would not release any profit data, he said the store has grown every year it has been in business.

University Text was recently acquired by Off-Campus Books, an 11-store chain based in Northern California, and officials are contemplating a move to a larger facility to accommodate more books, Magaña said.

The top four national textbook publishers ó Pearson Education, John Wiley and Sons, McGraw-Hill and Thomson Learning ó are also the biggest suppliers for CSULB and University Text, according to both Gulon and Magaña. All four have been profitable in recent years, according to the companies' public financial statements.

Kristen McCarthy, vice-president of public relations at Thomson Learning, said several factors contribute to rising textbook prices, including a decreased number of titles printed in most subject areas, forcing costs to be spread over fewer units.

Additionally, more supplementary and class management tools, including testing services, electronic and print supplements, now accompany most textbooks. The quality and content of most texts has also increased with a higher demand for full-color formats and more realistic photography.

Dr. Alex Wilson, a CSULB finance professor, said textbook prices could be lower if course materials were less colorful and excluded additions such as CD-ROMS.

Doing so, however, would make it more difficult to engage students raised on video games and MTV with bland learning materials, he said.

Thomas Learning's McCarthy agreed.  She said student evaluators routinely select textbooks with higher quality production values.