‘To Buy or Not to Buy’: How Course Textbooks Affect Students Academically and Financially

Written by Nancy Maria Fernandez

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Getting a university degree is a dream come true for most of us. There is no better feeling than when you finally receive your parchment at the end of your degree. It is a culmination of your blood, sweat and tears as you sat, night after night, toiling away at an assignment or a reading (or both). Apart from all the hard work that you put in throughout the four years of your undergraduate life, the fiscal aspect of education also plays an equally important role in completing your degree program. In fact, it is more important than hard work in some cases. In addition to the tuition fees, a student also has to set aside a considerable amount of money for other miscellaneous expenses. One of the most expensive costs incurred by students is the purchase of course textbooks. 

 Course textbooks are essential in facilitating students’ success in a course, partly owing to the fact that one can conveniently access the majority of the information being covered in the course from a single major source. However, a quick look at the SMU website reveals that students are required to allot an estimated $1,800  as the annual budget for course textbooks. While it is also mentioned that we can always explore cheaper options of accessing prescribed course material, such alternatives are slim due to the shift to online classes as a direct result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This problem persists because some classes still use physical books despite being held virtually. Regardless of the current circumstances, it does not change the fact that textbooks do not come cheap. With the mounting amount of work to do for every class and the general feeling of academic insecurity without the required textbook, students are compelled to go ahead and make the costly decision of buying the book — a cycle that repeats itself every semester. However, to what extent do course textbooks affect students academically as well as financially? In my quest for answers, I interviewed a few students, and asked them what they thought of the matter. 

For second-year student, N. L., textbooks have greatly contributed to her understanding  of a course. She believes that they are necessary since they facilitate a better comprehension of the concepts and also lead to increased participation in classroom discussions. However, she acknowledges the fact that they are indeed costly and how overpriced textbooks have forced her “to cut and save on other expenses.” Regardless, she prefers to have textbooks assigned for her classes as she finds it more convenient in helping her study. With the continued remote delivery of courses for the upcoming Fall term, N. L. feels apprehensive about her education due to  reduced access to textbooks placed on reserve at the library. This would essentially mean that students will have to buy more textbooks than they normally do due to a smaller number of resources available at their disposal. 

When asked about the necessity of course textbooks, Sarah holds that the importance of a textbook is grounded in the course itself. A recent graduate from Saint Mary’s University, she believes that for courses that rely on other study materials like classroom handouts and the use of audio-visual aids, assigning textbooks that cover the same material defeats the purpose as they are not fully utilized and therefore, are a waste of money. 

Sarah believes that the monetary worth of a textbook can be measured in terms of how broadly it is applied to the learning and appreciation of the course. She says, “as long as the expensive textbook is being extensively used and is well incorporated, I feel that it is worth the price (i.e., a $100+ book as the main text of a full-year course).” Sarah is also of the view that short assigned readings coupled with meaningful classroom discussions in the place of long, tedious readings would be more effective in the learning process and would result in a greater appreciation of the course. 

When it comes to exploring cost-efficient alternatives to textbooks, Sarah suggests using audiobooks, coursepacks and other in-class audio-visual aids like PowerPoint presentations and free podcasts. She even proposed the idea of having a “student book co-op” scheme which essentially entails two or three students dividing the cost of the textbook among themselves for the purpose of shared usage of the same. Sarah also believes that there should be a “book sponsor program” where sponsors could help students financially by providing them with course books free of cost or at a discounted rate. Similar schemes already exist in the form of  Facebook groups, one of them being the SMUSA Book Exchange, where SMUdents can buy and sell books at cheaper rates.

When asked about how the sudden shift to online learning during the Winter semester (which was also her last semester) impacted her access to resources, Sarah considers herself lucky as the move mainly affected her access to hardcopy books required for her research papers — an issue which was resolved by secondary resources available on the databases. However, she was at a slight disadvantage as she could no longer access a textbook placed on reserve for one of her classes. Sarah believes that the university can do a lot more to help students. “The way our institution does things is not the only way and there is room for vast improvements,” she said. Renting out ebooks at affordable prices, switching to a ‘textbook-less’ learning approach and instead relying on other free study aids are just some of the ways to do so.

Pearl, a Psychology major at SMU, believes that textbooks increase one’s appreciation for a course as they contain more information than what one can gain from lectures. Despite that, she says, “I rarely use textbooks for any of my courses mainly because they are pricey and I am still able to do pretty well in a course without them.” But she considers them necessary as they pave the way for a better understanding of the course and helps her apply the concepts to real-life scenarios. 

However, Pearl recognizes that textbooks are undeniably expensive, which only adds to the financial burdens of students. “I definitely think the prices for textbooks are way higher than they need to be and they prevent a lot of students from accessing knowledge that would be useful,” she said. Pearl believes that this issue can be resolved if lecturers place more copies of the textbook on reserve so as to make it more accessible to students. She also contended that books should be loaned to students for free as even used copies are not always sold at affordable prices. 

Pearl has her own apprehensions about what classes will look like in the Fall with the reduced access to textbooks placed on reserve in addition to the lack of all the other resources that are generally accorded to students while on-campus. In order to counter this problem, she says, “Professors, and the university as a whole, should provide students with easy access to free, softcopy versions of the course textbooks.” This is also a great alternative wherein required readings can be scanned and made available to students via Brightspace instead of having them purchase the entire textbook.

To be fair, the university has actively taken measures to make various resources accessible to students as we slowly inch towards the Fall term. SMU has recently introduced the concept of Open Education Resources (OERs) which would make it easier for students to access textbooks and other course materials as they study from home. OERs are an important form of resource that provide students access to course materials (textbooks, readings, etc.) at little to no cost. In the recent virtual town hall meeting held on July 7th, SMUSA President, Bryn de Chastelain mentioned that the implementation of OERs would potentially help students save around $500-$1000  annually on textbooks. In addition to that, the Patrick Power Library has also developed a new system  where students can place requests for books and collect them at the door by using a paging service.

While all these provisions look like they might be somewhat effective, they are still not 100% practical as not all students can make use of them. It is not conducive to everybody, especially to the differently-abled and for those students who are currently living outside Halifax, to make use of the paging service to gain access to hardcopy books from the library. The SMU Bookstore which normally allows students to rent textbooks from them, currently offers ebooks on a digital platform for purchase only.  Even the highly effective OERs have their own drawbacks in the form of old information that do not get updated and the reduced accessibility to people with disabilities besides other things. Apart from that, the recent hike in tuition fees along with the present economic conditions, will only serve to make textbooks less and less affordable to students even with the implementation of cost-efficient alternatives. In view of this, is it too much to expect SMU to go textbook-free and instead rely on other, free forms of study aids just for this year?