As college tuitions are
continuing to rise, so are the prices of textbooks. The U.S. Government
Accountability Office reports that from 1986 to 2004, college textbook
prices increased at twice the rate of inflation. FinAid.org projects that for
2015, college students face an average textbook cost of $1339. With
student-loan debt at an all-time high and likely to continue climbing, many
must find ways to save on basics like transportation and textbooks or consider
dropping out altogether. This dismaying fact recently led Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO
Lloyd C. Blankfein to announce a $2 million donation to New York's LaGuardia
Community College, where he had given the 2013 graduation speech. Blankfein,
who grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, has recalled attending Harvard on
scholarship with a budget so tight that he couldn't even buy a Coke because
"it wasn't in the budget."
Nine
Steps To Cutting Your Textbook Costs
Here's how a little
research can help you save.
1.
Timing. One way of saving money is waiting until the
course begins. Ask the professor: Some courses do not require you to purchase
the textbook. Sometimes only a few chapters will be used throughout the course.
Most on-campus libraries allow you to use their textbooks for up two hours, and
most on-campus libraries also have copiers. Photocopy the chapters needed if
two hours' time isn't enough to do all the assigned reading.
2.
On-campus library. Many on-campus libraries also have
a few copies of textbooks available to students to use for free. The weekends
and evenings are the best time to access to these textbooks without the wait.
(The librarian often can give advice on how and where to purchase textbooks at
a discount.)
3.
On-campus bulletin boards. Once students finish a
course, many opt to sell their books by placing notices on campus bulletin
boards. Ask your professor if you can purchase an earlier edition; these older
editions tend to be less expensive than new or current ones.
4.
Local library. Surprisingly, your local public
library may have the textbooks for free and if they are available, will place
them on hold for you.
5.
On-campus bookstore. Besides selling brand new
textbooks, most on-campus bookstores have used copies readily available at
steep discounts.
6.
Rent your textbook. Renting textbooks is all the rage
on campuses these days. It allows you to purchase use of the material for the
amount of time needed without having to own it. Gone are those days of carrying
heavy textbooks: These eTextbooks can be accessed via laptop, tablet or phone.
Some of the best known rental websites are Chegg.com, Textbooks.com,
CampusBookRentals.com, Bookrenter.com and Valore.com.
7. Amazon's Kindle. Amazon also launched a textbook rental service for its Kindle device. The Kindle Textbook Rental allows you to either buy the e-Textbook or rent it for a certain amount of time. Rental prices are lower: for example, the textbook Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, by Diana Kendall, costs $131.49 to buy and $45.81 to rent. The e-books can be accessed not only on a Kindle, but on other devices such as a Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad or Android-based devices provided you use the free Kindle Reader app.
7. Amazon's Kindle. Amazon also launched a textbook rental service for its Kindle device. The Kindle Textbook Rental allows you to either buy the e-Textbook or rent it for a certain amount of time. Rental prices are lower: for example, the textbook Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials, by Diana Kendall, costs $131.49 to buy and $45.81 to rent. The e-books can be accessed not only on a Kindle, but on other devices such as a Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad or Android-based devices provided you use the free Kindle Reader app.
8. Selling the books back. One
way to help your budget is by selling the textbooks back to the seller. It's
important that the books be in good condition. ValoreBooks.com, Amazon.com and
Clegg.com are a few of the websites will buy the textbook back from you.
Another place would be your on-campus bookstore. Usually on-campus bookstores
are not so particular.
9.
Download free textbooks. Rice University in
Houston, Texas, started OpenStaxCollege.org, which provides free textbooks
online or as PDF downloadable on a computer. The goal is to make more textbooks
open source. Another website worth checking is Gutenburg.org, which has
over 46,000 free ebooks in an array of genres.
The
Bottom Line
By being resourceful, a
college student can save 50 to 60% off the high costs of textbooks by buying
used ones. Renting ebooks can save as much as 50 to 80% off the price of a
printed book. Reselling your used texts can also help. And here's Option
Number 10: If you really want to hold on to your pristine, new art history
books for future reference, maybe you can find a multimillionaire Wall
Street banker to help you.
Source | http://www.investopedia.com/
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