Back in 2001, most textbooks cost less than half the price they do now.
Textbook prices have risen by 102 percent since December 2001, according to a report by Bloomberg published Thursday.
The overall price of consumer goods has increased only 32 percent in the same amount of time, according to the report.
Lynne Vaughan, director of the UF Bookstore, said she has noticed this trend.
She said various factors contribute to the rising prices.
“They don’t keep the books out long,” Vaughan said. “Three years seems like a long time for a textbook to stay relevant. Publishers are trying to stay in business. In my opinion, they push the authors for new editions.”
New technologies make textbooks more expensive, whether it’s the publishing rights to high-resolution photos in science books or bundling a pre-existing book into a package with a clicker, Vaughan said.
Although the UF Bookstore offers used books as a lower-priced option, Austin Harvey, a 21-year-old biological engineering senior, said he skips the bookstores altogether.
“If it is something that pertains directly to my major, and I can use it again in the future, I buy it off of Amazon,” he said. “But for the majority of books, I rent them from Chegg.”
Harvey said the online textbook vendor http://www.chegg.com has offered him the best prices.
But he said he skips buying the textbook if a professor lets him know that it isn’t entirely crucial to passing the course.
“I’m a cost-efficient college student,” he said.
As a side note, Vaughan said professors at UF who write their own textbooks do not receive royalties from the sales they make to UF students.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 9/10/2013 under the headline "Cost of textbooks has doubled since 2001, report says"
Textbook prices have increased 102 percent since 2001. Greater availability of digital options for textbooks, as well as a wider market for used books, may help ease cost pressures, according to a report. Some students skip buying the books altogether, though, to save money.
