Jordan Roberts

Final Article

BLOOMSBURG- Expensive tuition, housing, and meal plans are not the only thing college students and
parents have to worry about. According to the National Association of College Stores, the average
college student spends up to $655 each year on textbooks.

Imagine receiving financial aid and taking out loans for thousands of dollars just have your professor
hand you the class syllabus and realize their textbook is $200 and that is for one class. Meanwhile you
have four more classes to go.

Now you are stuck trying to figure out where you are going to come up with the hundreds of dollars.
Yes, some people recommend going online and buying a used copy of the book because that usually is
the cheaper route. But what about the courses that require an access code/login then you are stuck
paying a decent chunk of money for a 16-digit code just, so you can do your homework/ complete
assignments.

Yes, some people are lucky enough to have extra financial aid leftover that they can put towards their
textbooks. Amanda Warren who is the Financial Aid Specialist at Bloomsburg University said “If students
have excess financial aid, where the total pending financial aid for a term exceeds the university bill,
students may use those excess funds to purchase textbooks at the University Store. This usually takes
place a week before the term begins and runs until the last day to add/drop classes.”

So, there are alternative ways for students to pay for their books. But for students like Jasmine
Chanthalansy who is a Sophomore at Bloomsburg University that is not an option. Jasmine went on to
say “that does not apply to me, I have reached the maximum financial aid is willing to give me. Plus, I
have taken out loans just to get here. I had to do all that before buying a book now what?”

“Some professors do recommend a student can buy an older edition of the class textbook because it will
work and get the job done it’s just that they page numbers and wording might be a little bit different.”
Said Junior at Bloomsburg University Kevin Joseph. Kevin then went on record to say “I do not
understand if there is a cheaper textbook out there that can be used in the class why wont the professor
just make the cheaper option the require text then. This way students can save money and still learn the
material they need.”

Another student I spoke to at Bloomsburg University Emily Andrusko said “college textbooks should be
like high-school textbooks. A student signs a book out the first day of class and uses it the whole
semester then returns it, and if damaged they should pay for it.” It seems like Emily thinks the professor
should receive a set of class textbooks to handout and recycle with each class they get per semester.

An idea like seems like it could actually work. Students would be able to save tons of money as long as
they take of the textbook, and not have to stress out about trying to come up with the money to
purchase books. Instead they can focus on being responsible and not damage the book they were given.

Because here at Bloomsburg University I asked the Financial Aid Specialist Amanda Warren is there a set
limit to how much financial aid a student can spend on books and she said, “The maximum that students
can use is $600 per term.” Meaning the school is still in control of how a student can spend their excess
money. But has the school considered that after a student had purchased those expensive books their
still might be other mandatory things a student might need to succeed in their classes.

For example, some students need to purchase a clicker which can cost about $80 dollars brand new in
the school store.

Also, a student might need that extra money to buy simple things such as pencils, pens, notebooks etc.
But due to the Universities $600-dollar limit that might not be possible leaving a student to scramble
and somehow get those basic yet essential class materials.

It seems like the University needs to rethink how they handle textbooks or investigate their $600 limit. If
not, I fear for students that struggle to get all their course materials each year. Especially the student
that work during the school year saving all their money just, so they can get the things they need for the
next year.