Once upon a time, a MSU student with a fade top haircut could moonwalk into a bookstore and purchase an economics textbook for $30.
As far-fetched as that story might seem, it was a reality. It may seem fantastical because textbook prices in the past 30 years have exponentially increased.
In fact, NBC’s review of the bureau statistics indicates that the price of textbooks has risen an alarming 1,041 percent since 1977.
Not only have MSU students noticed, but their bank accounts and wallets are weeping when the cash register chimes.
Accounting junior Taylor Law estimates her text books will cost anywhere between $650 and $700 this semester.
While upset with the price of the textbooks, she feels cornered and given no other option than to purchase the expensive books because many of them have online access codes that are required for the course.
According to an article by US News and World Report, students are cornered in the textbook market because “professors, not students, are responsible for selecting course textbooks.”
“It’s a business and people are hungry,” Law said, reiterating the fact that, like other students, she feels cornered into buying brand new textbooks.
Other students feel the price tag on the textbook does not equate to the worth they get out of it.
Packaging sophomore Will Stewart feels the high demand for these books could be a factor in their steep price. He also, however, wishes some of the mandatory texts were “more relevant.”
Stewart said he found little use of the some of the books he had to buy, saying he “never used them once.” If students are to spend this much money, Stewart said he wishes they “pertained more to the course.”
Finance junior Nicole Kovach laments sometimes she only needed the book “for a few points, and the rest of it is useless.”
Some older and more seasoned students have learned their lesson and sought ulterior ways to buy books.
Nursing senior Lindsay Hall-Burdick has used the Facebook group MSU Free and For Sale ever since she gasped at the total price of textbooks her freshman year. It is a Facebook group where students can sell their old textbooks and prospective buyers have access to significantly cheaper textbooks.
A study by US News and World Report estimates that students could pay as much as $1,200 each year for textbooks — a sum of money students are finding hard to grapple with.
