Free.....really? Everybody wants something for free these days. People should stop wasting 50k a year on college and go to public schools. That will drive down the cost of the private schools. I went to a state school and do just fine for myself. Graduated about 10 years ago and only had about $10k in loans (I worked when I was on break to save and pay as I went as well). Also choose a profession where you can recoup your INVESTMENT! That is what higher eduation is. If you are not smart enough to realize that maybe college isn't right for you to begin with....or your parents & guidance councilors failed you miserably for not pointing that out.

So now Textbooks should be "FREE", Why not your "ENTITLED" to it. That's why illegals are risking life & limb to get here, everything's free! Have you been to Walmart lately? Almost everyone pays for their carriage full of junk food & frivolous items with " E. B. T. " cards.

College education isn't a right, and depending on your course of studies may actually handicap you. Ask yourself why you are attending college. Is it to invest in yourself? Great - make sure the investment is worth the ROI (Economics 101). Is it to invest in the greater good of society? Great - make sure your investment will make a contribution and not be a drain.

Let me guess... Sophomore?

Wow. The comments here are impressive. I can totally see how illegals and EBT cards, or suggestions on what school to attend are going to really further this discussion.

The worst part of those general knowledge books is that they seem to be updated every year, and there doesn't seem to be any marked difference between the editions. So, when you try to sell the "new" book back, it's now OLD, and you can't make any of your money back. I suppose, however, you could look at it as a lesson in capitalism...I mean, at least the publishers are making money!

robwk, I completely agree that the high cost of tuition is a bigger issue than books. I didn't mean to suggest that my books' costs are a bigger issue than everything else I'm paying for. I was just trying to suggest that there's a way of making those particular items much more efficient in terms of cost.

And just sayin;: Freshman!

Andrew, thanks for the response. Maybe you could create a network amongst students at your school through which students could sell books from student to student more cheaply. With Facebook this seems feasible. However, expecting the publishers to just forget about their own profits (& employees) is asinine and it came off to me as in the same vain as the "give me free tuition" occupiers.....

A personal Assumption College network where people sell their books between each other... I really like that idea, robwk! Often, people sell their books back online, but I think what you suggested is a better way of cheapening book costs. I think I'll bring that up to student govt. I'll say someone from my hometown suggested that. :)

I'm all for free text books if: Andy here leads the way and; devotes his life to the research, analysis and compilation of data, pays for copyright and trademark clearance of material in the book not created by him; swallows the cost of publishing, marketing and supporting the books with teaching materials and teacher instruction... plus the other horse-choking expenses involved.

Yeah, like most Obmites Andy is in favor of it so long as he doesn't have to pay for it or the school he attends doesn't have to dip into its billion dollar endowment to cover the cost of materials that they require.

Welcome to reality Andy boy

Mark, I understand logistically that free textbooks, while I think justified, are unlikely to occur because of profits that occur when selling the book. But why not put them online? That would save production costs (no need for all the paper) and hence allow for a cheaper price, one that won't hurt publisher profits. Here at Assumption almost everyone has a laptop and internet access. I'm not trying to suggest we make the whole of our higher education system a handout - I'm trying to make it more effcient.

I'm sure they have looked into it and since they are not doing it we can assume it is not something that would be profitable to them at this time. They probably recognize that you and many others in your class will share the login name and password thus decreasing profits....

" But why not put them online?"

So, Andy, why don't YOU?

Andrew, books are available online. I recently completed a second Bachelor's degree in business and was able to purchase several of the "second" type of text books online - Accounting and Corporate Finanace specifically. When purchasing the e-book, I had to the option to choose the entire book for a flat cost or just certain chapters for a cost per chapter (this is a great option when you have a class where the syllabus details what chapters you will read - some classes only use half of the chapters in a book). There was also the choice of whether to buy the book for one computer or have the option to access from any computer. Also able to save and print! I believe that I purchased the books online through the publisher's website.

Andrew, as I stated, I purchased online books through the publisher's website, so the website would depend on the publisher of your book. Also, a quick internet search of the ISBN should yield where any "ebook" websites.

I'll have to check this out next semester! Thanks for the heads up!

@Stephanie, I agree, the "planned obsolecense" of having a new edition every year is a bit much. Andrew, I went back to college as a young adult, and was astounded at both the price and the low resale value of the textbooks. During my time as a student I got stuck with several old editions that were useful only as kindling.

Having them totally for "free," is excessive, but I definitely think that the publishers should be encouraged to move to ebooks over printed media for a number of reasons. Less paper, lower cost, easier to update and revise.

I don't think looking for a low priced alternative to a product or service is the result of any particular school system or attitude. Might just be a case of smart shopping. Who doesn't like a deal?

Maybe the endless compulsion to comment on matters from several thousand miles away while insulting people in the process was caused by attending public schools in the 60s and 70s.

Speaking as both an author and small publisher I can tell you that the only encouragement for publishers to shift to eBooks is that the profit and protection of intellectual property rights be there, along with wide access to affordable readers.

The market place determines what happens next, and if you've been paying attention to the problems of hard-copy sellers (i.e. the now defunct Borders Books), notice the huge and growing market share of eBooks and exploding advances in readers then you know those forces are already at work and need no further encouragement.

As for Andy's price shopping, that's not what his column was about. It displays his lack of education about how our system works, why it works the way it does and how to use it to your advantage. That wasn't taught in the Attleboro Schools in the 60's and 70's any more than it is today there or in any public school system.

I agree, publishers should certainlly be able to profit and authors need protection for their intellectual property. Those publishers and others who don't adapt to the changing market will fail, just like Borders, unless the current leaders of our olilgarchy decide that those are "too big to fail." ;)

Perhaps online college textbooks could include small advertising...much like the ads on the "free" Pandora streams or Android applications.

Anyway, I found this article about online textbooks fascinating:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html

Here you go Andy... you have a very powerful ally http://sd06.senate.ca.gov/news/2011-12-13-steinberg-proposal-slashes-textbook-costs-california-college-students.

I know Darrell. He's one of the more solution centered people in Sacramento and effective (damn shame he's a liberal). You would be smart to contact him, would do you a world of good to see what you can do to intern for him on this effort... would give you access to the UC system, a far superior situation and you would hit the ground with mind-blowing networking opportunities.

Send him a copy of your column and any other materials you have gathered to support your position and let me know if I can go the few blocks over to the Capitol and wander over the the wrong side of the building and get his attention for you (last time I went to his office TV cameras showed up :)

Wow.... Mark, thank you! That's... wow haha. That would certainly be a great oppurtunity. Right now I'm having difficulty working out an internship at the Massachusetts State House with the State Rep who lives right across from Assumption because I can scarcely afford to get up to Boston all that much, so California is something I'd have to think over very much. That being said, in a future Attleboro Democracy Magazine issue (I've introduced about it in an earlier post?), the designated topic is going to be education. Should I give an him email and see if he wants to write a guest column? Thanks so much for the heads up M-Wills! I really appreciate it. :)

Might want to call his press guy - Mark Hedlund (916) 651-4188 and see where to direct an your email so it doesn't go into they'll get to it some time pile (you're a little outside his district :) Headlund was a long time TV reporter here, well respected and is probably your best bet for an in. Given the subject matter and that he's probably trolling for support and resources on this would seem to me that they'd be receptive.

"you're a little outside his district" Just a bit haha. Thanks Mark! I'll give it a shot!

You have always been able to re-sell some texts after your class has finished. And there are several online portals through which to purchase used, and even new texts, at a reduce cost. still quite expensive. Like several hundred dollars per semester - robwk!
Again, go to more eBooks. Professors can 'self-publish' , still make some $$, but cost the students much less$$.

Ironically, when i searched the page to see if anyone else had reccomended this site, an advertisement had it. Anyway you can rent textbooks for MUCH cheaper than buying and selling them on www.chegg.com . That's what I did at URI and I still had money for Halo tournaments (didn't win though).

Both Apple and Google are developing text book projects, you're on the ground floor for something huge Andy... fueled by the private sector, not government. The only thing between the 99% and the 1% is that whomever figures out how to best exploit this new market and the resources being generated by the big guys gets to be in the 1 in real fast order

Steve H, you can sell textbooks back, but at a very miniscule price haha. And Jeff, that's smart/creepy advertsing right there. And Mark, have you heard of the new Apple feature that allows for personal self-publishing? That's going to be really interesting to see how that changes things.

(Btw, Mark, I got in touch State Senator Steinberg's office for the next 'zine, and we're going to feature something from him. Thanks again! Have you checked out the current Attleboro Democracy, and if so, whatdya think?)

Apple's a little late to the party, Amazon and several other sites have been in the business for some time. The Tea Party Express outsourced the printing of my book to Lulu.com... unit cost less than 8 bucks a copy (bulk, including shipping) and we had a $20 cover price :)

Glad to hear that Darrell is helping you out. He's a powerful guy and good to develop a working relationship with him.

Will check out the new AD