Letter to the editor: Textbooks should be made free or reduced in price

Erin Egan
Fri, 26 Mar 2021 01:52:38 +0000
Instagram Page, Letters to Editor, Opinion, cost, erin egan, ohio state, prices, student, textbook, the cost of a college textbook, tuition

Erin Egan is a second-year in political science and psychology. She argues that textbooks should be made cheaper or free for better access to education.

To the Editor:

Bio: Erin Egan is a second-year in political science and psychology. She works with Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGS), promoting solutions to the problem of hunger and homelessness.?

University students and their families already pay so much just to attain a higher education degree. One of the biggest costs to families around America is the price of textbooks. According to the College Board, textbooks account for as much as 13 percent of tuition at a four-year school and 40 percent of tuition at a two-year school. This is a huge problem, especially for families who are already struggling to send their child to college.

Students have found ways to fix this problem, but textbook publishers continue to raise prices, whether it’s the price of a physical book or an access code to an online book. To fix this problem, we need to implement country-wide textbook programs that either make the books free or cheaper than they are now. Grant programs at schools across the United States would be a great way to do this by incentivizing teachers to provide the textbook for free or for a cheaper price.

We need these grant programs to better education for college students across the nation. The solution is clear, we just need to implement it to reduce the already sky-high costs for students.