Monmouth, along with many other universities and colleges nation-wide, has many programs that require students to buy textbooks that are necessary for their courses. The unfortunate fact is students have to buy many of these textbooks on their own dime.
Some students are spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks alone each semester. Students are already paying thousands of dollars in tuition, so it is worth questioning if schools, including Monmouth, should consider covering some textbook costs so students who are already paying a lot of money for an education do not have even more of a financial burden weighing on them.
When asked if they thought it was reasonable to force students to buy textbooks for their classes on top of already paying for tuition, one editor said, “I think textbooks should be covered by the university. I understand that different majors require different textbooks, therefore it wouldn’t be right to charge let’s say a communication major the same price as a health studies major if the price of textbooks was included in our general tuition bill. However, the school should have some system in place that allows students to borrow and return books for free, and if that student chooses to purchase the book to keep, they can do so.”
Another editor said, “I believe that all curriculum and materials used in a course should be covered by our tuition. In my experience, students spend lots of money on textbooks we are told we need that the professor doesn’t end up using.”
A different editor said, “I don’t think it’s reasonable for us to be forced to pay extra for our textbooks on top of tuition. They’re asking college students to spend 100+ dollars on textbooks, knowing that the majority of them can’t work while they’re in school. And those who do work, it makes their lives a million times harder juggling work, school, and having to pay for school expenses.”
Many students are having to buy more than just a few textbooks. For example, one editor said, “For one of my classes this semester I have to buy 11 books. There’s no way we get through 11 books in one semester so I already know I’m going to be wasting money.”
Even if Monmouth can not fully provide free textbooks that are included in tuition it is at least fair that they should consider limiting the amount of textbooks students are forced to purchase.
One editor thinks that Monmouth should limit the amount of textbooks students need to purchase, as she said, “I do think colleges should limit the amount of textbooks students have to purchase. Half the time, the professor says you ‘need’ the book, and then we use it once or twice throughout the semester. So unfair to the student and frankly it’s a waste of time.”
One editor said, “I can’t tell you the number of times I bought a textbook for a class, and it simply collected dust in my room because my professor never referenced or used it. I wasted a lot of money on textbooks I never used, and certainly did not need after the class was completed.Therefore, I think professors should be allowed to transparently say that students either don’t need a textbook for their class, or they should be given the opportunity to buy (on the university’s dime) the online version of textbook which they then can post on e-campus or disperse to the entire class.”
It is clear that a lot of students would agree that they should not be forced to buy so many textbooks each semester out of their own pockets due to the fact that students are already paying top dollar for tuition.
It is unreasonable to make some students spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks each semester when much of the student population either do not have jobs or deal with other necessary expenses while attending school.