If there is one constant we’ve been able to isolate over the semester in these editorial columns, it is that there is no definitive price tag on higher education. There is such a myriad of costs, expenses and associated or unexpected fees that all show up on your bill in one form or another — to report an exact number would hold credibility only but for a short amount of time.
One of the most dreaded expenses semester after semester is the obligatory shelling out of hundreds of dollars for new textbooks. Countless articles, blogs, guides or reports have been written on how to save money on textbooks, and they all seem to cover the same ground: buy used, search online, rent to own or sell them back at the end of the semester.
And students indeed see discounts sporadically, though the end result is usually the same. The discounts are miniscule in comparison to the original price of the book, the used edition is horribly marked up or you only receive a fraction of what you spent when you sell your books back to the store. Alas, like any other problem facing the digital generation, our search for a solution begins by turning on a screen.
Kindles, eBooks, iPads and eReaders: This is the future of education. Five years ago, the “must-have” for the modern college student was the laptop computer. Mac, PC, Alienware — it didn’t matter so long as it could connect to the Internet, process words into research papers and grant you access to the Facebook machine.
Time went by, Silicon Valley produced some more good ideas, the tablet was introduced to the market and the ripples made their way into the business of higher education.
In September 2006, the Arizona Board of Regents appointed a task force that aimed to hone in on the rising cost of textbooks and offer solutions to students. At an Academic Affairs Committee meeting the findings and solutions of the task force were discussed. The results reported millions in student savings since 2006 and offered solutions that embrace the demands of the digital age, encouraged use of non-print materials, price caps on teacher-authored texts and expanded rental programs.
So, is it now safe for incoming freshman to assume that before they graduate college — perhaps before they even step foot in a lecture hall — some form of access to eBooks or electronic texts will forgo luxury status and become a necessity for the classroom experience? Taking notes via pen and paper made an exit as the definition of coming to class prepared evolved to include a back-up power supply and a laptop computer.
If this report, and the student reaction to it, is any indicator of where eBooks will take us next, the modern college student might be interested in purchasing a tablet or Kindle not only out of a desire to be cool, but the necessity to be economical.
