Textbooks worrying students

Textbooks worrying students

By Rhiannon Lotze

Converged Citizen Staff

                High school seniors are beginning to apply to post-secondary schools for September 2016 and many are worried about more than just the cost of tuition.

On average, undergraduate programs cost about $6,200 in tuition for the 2015-16 school year, according to Statistics Canada. That number has been steadily increasing. Last year, undergraduate students paid an average of $6,000 a year.

However, tuition costs are not the only ones students have to pay. In addition to the price of the program, students can pay from $800 to $1,000 a year for textbooks alone, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

The high costs have many students worried, including Mikaela Russell who said she is planning on applying to the respiratory therapy program at St. Clair College.

“I’m most worried about financial troubles and paying off loans if I need to get them,” said Russell. She is planning on going to college after graduating from high school and said the only thing that could stop her would be if she had to work full-time for a year to save up money.

While students are worried about the high costs of schooling those around them also worry, including their parents and teachers.

Mitzi Fujs is a teacher at Sandwich Secondary School in LaSalle. She tries to help her students as much as possible.

“I direct them to guidance (counselling), vice principals and social workers as necessary,” she said. “A key issue for some is that several have to put off school for one year to work to afford school.”

Fujs also said for some, textbooks aren’t as much of an issue because they are “viewed as a downloadable file.”

Downloading PDF versions of textbooks is one of many ways students can save money. Russell said she plans to find as many used books as she can. Students can also purchase e-book versions of textbooks, rent them or search websites for the lowest prices.

“I would suggest using slugbooks.com as it compares prices for a textbook among multiple sites so you can find the cheapest price,” said Himani Dhar,  a third year student at the University of Windsor.

Dhar has purchased her textbooks from various websites, including Amazon. However, she said not all books are available through Internet stores and must be bought full-price at campus bookstores.

According to a study published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, tuition costs for students in 2017 could be around $7,500 a year and the costs of textbooks will rise as well.