Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.
After he scrounged together enough money to pay for tuition, UNLV freshman Warren Bumpus was shocked by the cost of his textbooks -- including a $94 price tag on a math book, he said.
"This just seems way too expensive," said Bumpus, 18, who is majoring in hotel administration. "I can't afford all of my books yet. I spent $130 and probably have $200 more to go. I'm just going to class and taking really good notes."
The cost of books and supplies for an academic year is increasing nationally, according to a study by the College Board. The study said that last year, a typical cost for a student's books and supplies ranged from $693 to $765. This year, it ranged from $727 to $803, the study said.
As a result of rising prices, some students say they are forced to find alternatives to paying the full price for their books -- such as networking with friends, or, in Bumpus' case, delaying the purchase and relying on notes.
"The average student spent $807 on books and textbook supplies," said Judith Platt, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Publishers, a national trade organization with 300 members. "Eight hundred bucks hurts, but when you talk about tuition that is costing $20,000 a year, I think a lot of anger and concern is about tuition costs that are going through the roof."
Marcy Fox, 20, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice at UNLV, said in some cases the textbooks cost more than the course: "It costs you more to buy the book than it does to go to school. You don't even get all the way through the books they have you buy sometimes."
Cliff Gutierrez, 20, a marketing major at UNLV, said he networks with friends to find cheaper books.
"Sometimes I see if anyone I know has the book," said Gutierrez, who spent $350 on books this semester. "Also, we try to sell the book at the end of the semester to someone who needs it. That way we get more for the book than we do by selling it back to the bookstore."
While students can save an average 25 percent by buying a used book, there is often a limited supply of used books -- prompting students to turn to online sales. Sites such as varsity.com, barnesandnoble.com and bigwords.com are a few of the bigger names in online college textbook sales. Such companies offer discounts of up to 10 percent; however, they tack on shipping costs and often do not offer related materials that campus bookstores do.
According to a recent study by the National Association of College Stores, 20 percent of college students are opting to not buy the book at all.
"Students tell us sometimes they share, but that's not optimal because it might not be there when they need it -- like when they have a test," said Laura Nakoneczny, a spokeswoman for the association, which represents 3,300 college bookstores across the nation.
Higher production prices and textbook "bundling" -- when booksellers include online guides and other study guides in the same package as the book -- are two factors driving up the cost of books, Nakoneczny said.
Over the past seven years, college textbook production costs rose 48.5 percent. Consumers end up paying much of the difference, Nakoneczny said.
"What it costs in terms of a producer to create a textbook -- the paper, the raw materials and the printing, (has) gone up," Nakoneczny said. "Those costs get passed on to us."
Textbooks are different from mass-produced books in other ways as well: They tend to contain more glossy graphics and are produced in fewer numbers, which contributes to the higher costs.
Some of the most expensive textbooks are in the fields of nursing and the sciences.
At UNLV a nursing course in Carol Rayfield's class carries costs of $461.50 for textbooks and suggested materials.
"Some of those books are recommended and some are required," Rayfield said.
Rayfield said that even though science textbooks are particularly expensive, cost is always a factor when choosing a book. She added that the nursing books she assigns will last student two semesters or more.
English Professor Aliki Barnstone said she has a different outlook on textbook prices. In one of her poetry classes, for example, she assigns $152 worth of books but says they are worth every penny.
"I have sympathy for the students, but I also think they need to prioritize," Barnstone said. "Although the total seems pretty large, I have to say when I was a student I didn't have a TV set. I didn't have a cell phone or a VCR. I spent all of my money on books. I think that should be their first priority."
While some professors assign expensive books, a handful at UNLV write and assign their own textbooks in class. While this practice is rare, the Sun found 10 such professors.
Joseph McCullough, distinguished professor in English at UNLV, said he assigned the collection of Mark Twain writings that he co-edited because it was the only such collection available.
"I can tell you why I use that book," McCullough said. "I don't like to use my own. Since this is the only book that has a comprehensive collection of Mark Twain's religious writings and since it is in a cheaply bound book, I use it."
McCullough pointed out that he only receives 20 cents a book and said that most of his profits come from the fact that the book is so widely acclaimed.
Fred Preston, a professor of sociology, has been assigning the textbook he authored for more than four years. The chairman of his department said it has not been a problem.
"It could be (a problem)," said Ronald Smith, sociology department chairman. "But it's always an individualized case because you have to look at the quality of it. (Preston's book) has actually gotten quite a few accolades in terms of student response."
Preston was not available for comment.
UNLV does have a policy about professors who use their own book in class. The book must first go through a departmental review, receive the chairman's approval and ultimately have the dean of the college approve its use.
To help defray some of the cost of textbooks, UNLV officials have contracted with the on-campus bookstore, which is operated by Barnes & Noble, to limit its profit margin to 20 percent or less, said Anne Kingsley, UNLV's director of student services budget.
"It's the best we can do to try to save them some money on the price of textbooks," Kingsley said. "We don't have any control over the publishing industry."
During the 2003 fiscal year, which ended in June, the UNLV bookstore sold $7.9 million in books and educational materials with UNLV's commission on those sales at $725,000. The previous year the bookstore sold $7.4 million in books educational materials, with UNLV realizing $675,000.
Nakoneczny said she doesn't see a break in the trend of increasing costs anytime soon.
"Historically prices have escalated," she said. "If I had to speculate, yes, it's going to go up. Bookstores just happen to be on the front lines when someone has to fork over that $200 for their chemistry or biology book. It's unfortunate."
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