Textbooks
There are a lot of expenses to keep in mind when it comes to deciding which colleges to apply to. Students have to worry about the price of tuition, room and board, living necessities, and most importantly, textbooks. In high school, all of the textbooks are provided by the school. That is not the case in college, however. It is up to the student to get all of the supplies he or she will need for all of his or her classes and that includes his or her textbooks. The professor of the class requires students to have a certain textbook, which can become very expensive. The cost of textbooks affects students across the country. A majority of college students have even skipped buying a textbook, even though their grade may be in jeopardy.
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A few colleges have switched from hardback copies of textbooks to open textbooks which are exactly like traditional textbooks except they are accessed under a license. That means they are completely free to access online, free to download and if a student desires a hard copy of the book they can buy it for around $20. Senators Durbin and Franken (and Congressmen Miler and Hinojosa) introduced a bill called the “Affordable College Textbooks Act.” The bill supports the development of open textbooks. (Grove1) If the bill passed, it could prevent students from spending thousands of dollars on books without sacrificing their education. Irene Duranczyk, a University of Minnesota professor, uses an open textbook for her statistics course. The online material is high quality and can be customized to fit her teaching style. The traditional book costs up to $180 but the open source is free. She goes on to say, “Students are very, very appreciative of being assigned a textbook that didn’t break the bank.” (Weisbaum2) If all courses had the online material that Duranczyk provides, students would be able to take the classes they wish to take without worrying about how much the book and materials would cost them. Open textbooks have the potential to change the education system and break the traditional publishers’ lock on the