A College Student

After filling this blog up with facts, statistics, and imperial evidence, I think its time to look at this issue from a personal level; and that person is me. My name is Austin and this is my fourth year at Chapman University. Tuition for Chapman is $33,760 this year, which is thankfully curbed somewhat by a scholarship and financial aid. However, outside tuition, the biggest cost of going to Chapman is Textbooks.

Although this was a lighter semester for textbooks, I did still pay $430 for all texts. My most expensive semester was about $800 dollars. I try to buy used textbooks but they are often not available because I need to buy the "new" edition which has not been used in classes yet. One of my problems with these overpriced books are the fact that the professors don't always used the entire text, even though I have to pay for the whole thing. This is the case especially with my French Textbook which we only work from page 231 on. I consider myself a responsible person when it comes to the environment (I recycle, ride my bike to school/ work)and this waste of paper every semester seems outrageous and unnecessary. To compound the problem when I try to sell back my books at the end of the semester, I rarely get over %10 of the initial cost back because my book has become "outdated" by some "new edition"

The most stand-out example I have experienced was for Bus-100: intro to business. I paid $139 for the textbook (new - there were no used available), "Business: Principles, Practices, and Guidelines". The professor used slides provided from the teacher edition of the textbook during lecture. Our tests were based on these slides, which were available on Blackboard for review. I never once opened my text, which was required to buy for the class. At the end of the semester the bookstore offered to buy it back for $8.

I could not believe how much of a ridiculous waste this was. I felt like my education was not respected by Chapman University for letting this happen. I felt the cost of my education was not respected by the Chapman University bookstore. This is not a sustainable system. Chapman should respect the students that make this university what it is and address this issue. Jim Doti, be the leader of this university you were appointed to be and stand up for your students, stand up for innovative and progressive education, and lead this university towards a more responsible and sustainable future.