Students at N.C. Central University are starting to experience sticker shock when they purchase textbooks.

According to the National Association of College Stores, the average cost per year for a student’s books and supplies rose from an average of $729 for the 2001-2002 school year to an average of $767 for the 2002-03 school year.

The soaring cost of textbooks leads to a number of problems.

Students who depend on financial aid either don’t receive enough money for textbooks or they have to wait for a refund check that only arrives weeks after classes have started. By this time, instructors may already have given reading assignments and possibly quizzes. This puts many students behind early in the semester.

LaMonica Edmonds’ textbook bill added up to the equivalent of one month’s rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

“So far I’ve spent about $530 on seven books and I still have one more to get,” said Edmonds, an education junior who drives from Statesville, N.C. every week to attend classes.

Edmonds is on a scholarship, but still feels the sting of book prices.

Criminal justice sophomore Xaviette Pointer said she has to borrow textbooks from friends and classmates because book prices are so high.

“I am on a book award and I have to pay the difference, and that is still quite high,” Pointer said. She said her book award only paid $125 toward her textbooks. The additional $350 came out of her pocket.

Used textbooks are the answer for many students. But they’re often sold out. Instructors may also require new revised editions.

According to Stephen Hochheiser of Thomson Publishing, a major textbook publisher, the existence of used textbooks actually drives up the price of new ones. Publishing firms respond by issuing new editions with bundled CDs and online resources that make older editions obsolete.

Curtis Pergeson, owner of the Book Exchange in downtown Durham, said that tactic is nothing new.

“It’s basically a publisher-author thing,” he said. “The publisher comes out with a new edition of a book each semester, which eliminates the need for the older edition. That way, they can keep making money and cut the bookstores out.”

Bob Nowell, associate professor in the Department of English and Mass Communication, agrees that the prices for textbooks have taken off.

Nowell said he takes book prices into consideration when ordering textbooks.

“In almost every case, I adopt the paperback version as opposed to the hardback version because the hardback is obviously more expensive,” Nowell said.

Authors of textbooks only make 12 cents for each textbook sold. Why, then, are book prices so high?

According to an article in the Minnesota Daily, students are paying for more than just books.

“Of every dollar spent on textbooks, bookstore maintenance, lighting, temperature control and employee salaries consume one quarter,” according to a National Association of College Stores report.

The article also noted that a 25 percent markup is an industry standard for textbooks. That explains why the book prices are nearly the same everywhere you go.

The Web site also stated that 65.8 cents of each dollar goes to the publisher for costs related to printing, administration, marketing and profit. College bookstores get 21.4 cents to pay for employees, operations and profit.

According to the NACS Web site, textbooks can be purchased online from overseas suppliers at significantly lower prices.

The reason for the drop in price is that U.S. publishers sell these books to wholesalers and retailers abroad at greatly reduced prices. NACS has asked U.S. publishers to stop the practice because it harms college stores and the students they serve.

Students, educators, and state lawmakers have rallied together in an effort to stop the textbook madness. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently passed a bill to stop the bundling of textbooks, and Georgia lawmakers have introduced two bills to control textbook pricing and use.

As inflation has affected the cost for a higher education over the years, the possibility of lower textbook prices looks bleak. “I think it’s a problem that has withstood the ages,” said Todd Smith, manager of Macon State University’s bookstore.

Smith recalled a recent meeting with other college booksellers where he saw newspaper articles from the 1930s.

“Even way back then, the prices were a concern for students,” he said.