Posted on 01/27/2019 11:22:12 AM PST by Kaslin
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a Kansas state freshman Republican representative hopes to help struggling college students burdened by the already high cost of textbooks via tax relief. Rep. Rick Hoheisel suggests that Kansas exempt all textbooks from the statewide 6.5% sales tax, thus saving students money each year they buy new books for their curriculum.
Rep. Hoheisel is a recent college graduate and remembers quite well that he would have to shell out big bucks each year simply to afford required reading. While Kansas cannot control the price of textbooks directly, the state government can control the taxes imposed on said products.
“This is something we do have control over,” Hoheisel told local media. “We can help give college students a break. Textbooks, I believe, have gone up four times the rate of inflation.”
As reported by the Capital-Journal, "House Bill 2011 introduced by Hoheisel was forwarded to the House Taxation Committee. He requested a public hearing on the bill in February in conjunction with the annual higher education lobbying day, which draws dozens of college students to the Capitol."
Rep. Hoheisel also says the bill would incentivize students to spend more money within their college communities and purchase their class' books at local stores.
“If we give sales tax breaks on this, it might inspire them to go to the bookstore and buy the textbooks because they’re saving $30 there,” the Republican said.
A recent CBS report found that "despite growing online markets for discounted books, the average cost of college textbooks has risen four times faster than the rate of inflation over the past 10 years. That has caused 65 percent of students to skip buying required texts at some point in their college career because of a lack of affordability." Likewise, The College Advisory board found that "over the course of a year, the average college student spends more than $1,200 on books and materials."
Why not go after the criminal enterprises known as Text Book publishers?
Another education scam. Education tax benefits always hike the cost of the underlying item, so any benefits will ultimately go into the pockets of the education system.
It's one of the biggest scams ever that would make even Ponzi blush. Issue new textbooks every year and call them revisions, which cost about as much as a quarter of tuition itself.
I don't understand why someone like Amazon doesn't jump in and have the textbooks on a Kindle, so students don't destroy their backs carrying textbooks.
thanks, idiot. the cost of textbooks just went up. again.
Many rent books now. The online used prices are good too but may become hard to find do to renting.
Some years ago I was in graduate school and saw international students coming to class with the international edition of the textbooks we were using. Same book as ours but 1/3 the price.
I asked the bookstore manager why American students many of whom had less income than the foreign students, could not buy the books at his store. The answer: the textbook publishers did not permit those editions to be sold in the USA.
Thank God for Amazon. Now students can buy used books and international editions for much less. Also, professors can choose edition of the book just before the new edition. Students would pay $50.00 a book instead of $250.00.
I’ve had it with the Educational Industrial Complex. Besides fattening their wallets, they’ve succeeded in producing a stunningly ignorant populace of debtors trained only to continue feeding the beast.
Amazon does have most textbooks on kindle.
As my son finished his graduate degree; he also rented through Amazon at a fraction of the cost. Both hard copy and electronic versions of books.
Prof tells you that you have to get his book for $200 and just uses one paragraph for the exam.
We hardly ever used those text books.
I can count on one hand where that actually happened.
But the overpriced text books, which were obsolete within one year because a *new* edition* was coming out, were just a black hole for money.
Absolutely! The cost of textbooks continue to match the willingness of those who buy them to pay - Just like college tuition. Anyone that thinks the actual cost of providing a college education has gone up as much as the tuition rates have skyrocketed is a fool.
But because of government involvement and and the proliferation of both “free money” as well as loans (now totally handled by government as well - so much for any bit of free market) - and the lie now poured out for decades on students that you HAVE to get a college education to be anything or to ever hope to make a living... Demand has driven up the cost well beyond the actual cost. So we see big, multi-$million building programs across many campuses -to meet both perceived needs as well as to be “nicer than the others” to compete for ever more dollars.
And the textbook publishers are every bit as guilty of false inflation - by publishing new editions every couple of years - and driving the forced adoption of the new editions, with just enough difference between them to make it impractical to hold on to the “old” edition for a few years. 9 out of 10 College courses do not have so much new to NEED to update textbooks... A 10 year (or even 5) cycle would dramatically decrease textbook prices.
And as I posted - the textbook publishers FORCE obsolescence of their textbooks every two to three years any more - So the supply chain dries up of used textbooks.
You mean an artificially price-fixed market like prescription drugs? YEP....
Haven’t been in college for a long time...The books are essentially the same every year. Apparently publishers control the industry by requiring a “CODE” for online stuff.
The only thing worse - when a textbook was actually required (and needed) - but the supply of used exhausted - so you HAD to buy new... only to find out at the end of the semester that the book was obsolete - and a new edition now required - so your book had ZERO value to anyone....
If I were in high school, I’d seriously consider studying at a foreign university.
As a college chemistry instructor I was outraged when some publishers no longer gave me a free copy for my class. I went on ebay and discovered I could buy a pdf download for my chemistry texts (no hard copy) for less that 10 dollars.
Politicians are not the problem. The problem is the stupid jerks who elect these assholes.
You are correct. But at least in the textbook business, Amazon has proven to a great competitor. Our college bookstore now rents textbooks for the semester and for the academic year. It also has a price matching policy: if you find the textbook at a lower price say at Barnes & Noble or Amazon, they will match it.
Also, our library will purchase one or two textbooks for each class and put it on reserve for students.
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