by Academic Publishing Scams
The Financial Assault
I spent $847 on textbooks this semester. Eight hundred forty-seven dollars. For books I’ll use for sixteen weeks and then never open again. For books that will be obsolete next semester when professors assign new edition that’s identical except for page numbers. For books that exist primarily to extract money from students who have no choice but to buy them. This is legal robbery. This is accepted practice. This is higher education. My Literature textbook costs $234. It’s anthology of public domain works I could access free online. But professor requires physical book because apparently reading free Shakespeare is less educational than reading expensive Shakespeare.
The Used Book Hunt
I tried buying used textbooks to save money. The campus bookstore has used section with prices barely lower than new books. Amazon has used copies but shipping takes two weeks and classes start tomorrow. Facebook groups have students selling last semester’s books but they’re always for different editions or different professors. I’m trapped in system designed to maximize costs and minimize options. According to economic analysis, textbook prices have increased 812 percent since 1978. That’s not inflation. That’s price gouging with academic legitimacy.
The Access Code Scam
The worst are textbooks bundled with access codes. You can’t buy these used because access codes are one-time use. You can’t rent them because you need the code. You can’t share them because every student needs individual code. It’s brilliant scam disguised as educational technology. My Chemistry textbook came with access code for online homework platform. The textbook costs $198. Without the code, I can’t submit assignments. Without submitted assignments, I fail the class. Without the class, I don’t graduate. The code expires after sixteen weeks. This is my life now.
The Resistance
Some students pirate textbooks, finding PDFs online and reading them on laptops. Professors pretend not to notice because they also think textbook prices are insane but can’t officially endorse piracy. Reductress would say Woman Develops Strong Moral Opposition To Capitalism After Seeing Textbook Prices. That’s me. I’m radicalized by anthology costs. Academia has created generation of students who understand economic exploitation through direct personal experience of being exploited. Thanks for the education, literally.
