How Much Are UConn Students Spending on Textbooks? · – Emily G., PNB & Anthropology ‘18 “The...
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HowMuchAreUConnStudentsSpendingon
Textbooks?
StudentSurveyResultsofTextbookPrices
ErinMcConnell
AffordableTextbooksCampaign
ConnecticutPublicInterestResearchGroupStudents
UniversityofConnecticut,Storrs
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TableofContents
Introduction 3
KeyFindings
MoneySpentonTextbooks 6
TextbooksPurchasedbutNeverUsed 7
TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAid 8
StudentComments 9
HistoryofOER 10
CalltoAction 11
ThankYou’s 11
Acknowledgements 12
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Introduction
Purpose ThepurposeofthisreportistoreportthefindingsfromUConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignSurveyfromSpring2017.UConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignconductedaUConn-widestudentsurveyaskingstudentshowtextbookpricesaffectthem. Methodology ThesurveywasassessedonaGoogleformaccessiblebyanyUConnemailwithaccesstothelink.WepostedthesurveyontheUConnBuyorSellTicketspageonFacebookandtheUConnDailyDigest.Wetabledatseveraldininghallsthroughoutthesemesteraskingstudentstofilloutourquicksurvey.Bycompletingthesurvey,studentswereautomaticallyenteredtowinadoor-prizeofoneoftwo$25Amazongiftcards.QuestionswerecreatedbytheAffordableTextbooksCampaignteaminpartnershipwiththeOpenEducationalResourcesLibrarianfromtheUConnLibrary,KathyLabadorf. WhotookthesurveyThedatacollectedcomesfrom912surveys.About60%ofstudentswhotookthesurveywerefreshmanandsophomoresatthetimeofthesurvey.
College/School EnrollmentPercentageatUConnCollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences
(CLAS)43%
SchoolofEngineering 19.7%SchoolofNursing 2.5%
NeagSchoolofEducation 1.6%SchoolofBusiness 13.1%SchoolofFineArts 10.4%
CollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResources
9.6%
SchoolofPharmacy 0.1%
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459
160
33 22
89
26
101
22
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Num
bero
fStude
nts
College/School
BreakdownbyCollege/School
172
197
259271
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Num
bero
fStude
nts
2017
BreakdownbyGraduationYear
2018 2019 2020Year
05
10152025
Num
bero
fStudn
ets
Major
SchoolofBusinessBreakdown
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0
10
20
30
40
50
60ActuarialScien
ce
Anthropo
logy
AppliedMathe
maticalScien
ces
BiologicalScien
ces
Biology
Germ
an
Chem
istry
CognitiveScien
ce
Commun
ication
Econ
omics
Spanish
EcologyandEvolutionaryBiology
English
En
vironm
entalScien
ce
Environm
entalStudies
Geoscien
ce
History
HumanDevelop
men
tand
Fam
ily
HumanRights
Individu
alize
dMajor
Linguistics
Mathe
matics
Molecularand
CellBiology
Philosoph
yPh
ysics
Physiologyand
Neu
robiology
PoliticalScien
ce
Psycho
logy
Sociology
Speech,LanguageandHe
aringSciences
Statistics
Urbanand
Com
mun
ityStudies
Wom
en's,Gen
der,&SexualityStud
ies
Num
bero
fStude
nts
Major
CLASBreakdown
05
1015202530354045
Num
bero
fStude
nts
Major
CollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesBreakdown
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KeyFindings
MoneySpentonTextbooks
Justover50%ofstudentsreportedthattheyhavespentbetween$101and$300ontextbookshereatUConnduringtheSpring2017semesterwhile25%havespentbetween$301and$600.ThelowestspendingontextbookswasfromtheSchoolofBusiness,whiletheCollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesusuallyspentbetween$201and$400.
0
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$0-100 $101-200 $201-300 $301-400 $401-500 $501-600 Morethan$601
Num
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fStude
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DollarsSpent
MoneySpentonTextbooksforUConn
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TextbooksPurchasedbutNeverUsedJustover90%ofstudentsreportedthattheyhaveboughttextbookshereatUConnandneverusedsomeormostofthem.
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100
200
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400
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None Some Most All
Num
bero
fStude
nts
TextbooksPurchased
TextbooksPurchasedButNeverUsedforUConn
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TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAid82%ofstudentsreportedthatnoneoftheirtextbookcostsarecoveredbyfinancialaidhereatUConn:thefullburdenofthecostoftextbooksisfallingentirelyonthestudent.WithOpenEducationalResources,thisburdenwillgodownimmensely,andstudentswon’tfeelasthoughthey’respendinghalftheirbankaccountontextbooks.
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None Lessthan25% 26%-50% 51%-75% 76%-99% Allofmytextbooks(100%)
Num
bero
fStude
nts
PercentageCovered
TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAidforUConn
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Whilemanystudentschoosetonotbuytextbooksatalland/ordropcoursesthatrequiretopurchaseatextbook,about55%ofstudentsfindtextbookstobethemostbeneficialstudyaid.Thecostoftextbookshascausedabout55%ofstudentstonotpurchaseabookatalleventhoughitwasreportedtobeoneofthebeststudyaids.Evenifstudentsfindthetextbooktobethemostbeneficialresource,thecoststilldrivesmanystudentsnottobuythebook.Thiscouldhaveanegativeimpactontheirgrades.About25%ofstudentseitherdrop,withdraw,orchoosenottoenrollincertainclassesduetotextbookcosts.
StudentComments
“Wedefinitelyneedmoreopensourcetextbooks–thecostoftextbooksisridiculousandtheopensourcebooksI’veusedarejustasgood.”–AnnieR.,Biology‘19 “WouldlovetoseeteachersusethisOpenEducationResourcebecauseitwouldsavemesomuch,helpmelearn,andearnahighergrade.”–ToriM.,AlliedHealthSciences‘19 “Expensivetextbooksmakeitverydifficultforstudentstosucceed.Oftentimes,IamworriedthatIwillnotbeabletoaffordmybooks,andifitweren’tforfinancialaid,Iwouldn’tbeabletobuyanyatall.”–KaitlinG.,Communications‘18 “Professorsneedtoatleastmakeclearhowvaluableatextbookis,becausemanyclasses,I’vedonefinewithonlyreadingmaybetwochaptersina$200textbook(whichisfrustrating).”–EmilyG.,PNB&Anthropology‘18 “Thecostoftextbooksinhibitsastudent’sabilitytolearn.Atrueeducationalinstitutionwoulddoeverythingintheirpowertomakelearningaffordableandareasonablecost.”–ChrissyL.,Nursing‘17 “Itwouldbeveryhelpfultogetmoreprofessorsonboardwiththis,becausemanyofthemarerepublishingtheirtextbooksforanewedition,soit’sdifficulttogetcheaperversionsofthebooks.”-KonatsuS.,‘18
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HistoryofOERatUConnIn2015,UConnPIRGpartneredwiththeUndergraduateStudentGovernment(USG)inanefforttopromotetheuseofOpenTextbooksatUConn.Ataskforceofstudents,administrators,academicstaff,faculty,andlibrariansformedtoexploreAffordableTextbooks.Becauseofthisstrongadvocacy,statelegislationsupportingopentextbookspassedandtheUniversitySenatepassedaresolutioninsupportoftheOpenTextbookInitiative.Additionally,thistaskforcereceivedan18-monthgrantofnearly$100,000tointroduceopentextbookstoUConn.Thelibraryattheuniversityleadanefforttosurveyfacultyaboutopentextbookuse,createdonlineworkshopsforfacultydevelopment,andadaptedanexistinggeneralchemistrytextbook.Sincethen,theOERinitiativehasimpactedseveralthousandstudentstoincreaseaffordabilityoftextbooks.TheOpenStaxChemistrytextbook,revisedbyDr.EdwardNethfromUConn’sChemistrydepartment,hasbeenusedbymorethan2,000studentsandhassavedthemover$200,000.Manyfacultymembershaveredesignedtheircoursestomakematerialseithernocostormoreaffordable.InSeptember2016,theUConnCo-opgiftedthelibraryatUConn$300,000forthefuturedevelopmentofOERoncampus.Grantshavebeenawardedto15facultymembersthusfar. HistoryofOERNationallyAsfornationalOERwork,theStudentPIRGsaroundthecountry,formorethanadecade,haveexposedpublishinggiantswhojackuptextbookpricesyearafteryear,recommendedcost-savingtextbookoptionstostudentslikeusedbooksandrentals,andadvocatedforopentextbooksastheanswertotheproblemofever-risingtextbookcosts.Over3,000professorsacrossthecountryhavesignedastatementinsupportforopentextbookadoption.Manycollegesanduniversitieshavelaunchedtheirowncampusprogramsforencouragingopentextbookuse,suchasUMassAmherstandRutgersUniversity.TheStudentPIRGshavealsopublishedmorethan14reportsdiscussingtheproblemswithtraditionaltextbooksandhowopentextbooksarethesolution.Over38,000studentsand137collegesuseOER,withsavingstostudentsaddingupto$3.8million.
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CalltoActionOursurveyshowsthatUConnstudentsarebeingforcedtomakehardchoicesintheirpursuitofanA.Ifmorethanaquarterofourpeersaredroppingcoursesduetotextbookscosts,itbecomesevenharderforthemtosucceedinclass.WefoundthatstudentsintheCollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesandtheCLASareshoulderingahugecost.Giventhatahugenumberofstudentssaythattheyarenotactuallyusingtheirentiretextbook,itisclearthatexistingmaterialsarenotmeetingstudentneeds.Wearecallingonallfaculty–butparticularlytheseexpensiveschools–toturntoopentextbooksasanalternative. ThankYou’sUConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignwantstothankallprofessorswhoarealreadyontheOERInitiative.Theseprofessorsare: • Dr.AlexiaSmith,Anthropology• EmmaBojinova,AgricultureandResourceEconomics• AstronomersKateWhitaker,JonathanTrump,andCaraBattersby,Physics• LoisLakeChurch,English(UConnWaterbury)• ShanePeterson,GermanFilmStudies• OwenSvalestadandDerekJohnson,Economics• DrewJaramilloandAmitSavkar,Pre-Calculus• Dr.KimberliTreadwell,Psychology(UConnWaterbury)• Dr.EdwardNeth,Chemistry• JosephDePasquale,Chemistry• Dr.EllenCarillo,English(UConnWaterbury)• DoctoralcandidateCanerHazar,Sociology• AmbarSenguptaandAlexanderTeplyaev,Mathematics• AdamGiambroneandErinRizzie,Mathematics• JamieVaudrey,MarineSciences(UConnAveryPoint)• Dr.ChallaKumar,Chemistry• Dr.DavidMiller,retired• Dr.NinaStein,Chemistry(UConnWaterbury)• Dr.JasonOliverChange,HistoryandAsianAmericanStudiesLastly,wewanttothanktheUConnLibraryandtheOpenTextbookInitiativeTeam,bothofwhichhavebeenbigadvocatesforandabighelpwiththeworkUConnPIRGisdoingonitsAffordableTextbooksCampaign.
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AcknowledgementsThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution4.0InternationalLicense.Toviewacopyofthislicense,visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Tocite,youmayattributeauthorshiptoConnPIRGStudents(2018).TheConnecticutStudentPublicInterestResearchGroup(ConnPIRG)isanindependentstatewidestudentorganizationthatworksonissueslikeenvironmentalprotection,consumerprotection,andhungerandhomelessness.Wehavethreefee-fundedchaptersinConnecticut,UConnStorrs,UConnHartford,andTrinityCollege.Formorethan40years,ourstudentsandstaffhavebeenmakingarealdifferenceinpeople’slivesandwinningconcretechangestobuildabetterworld.OneofourcampaignscontinuestobetheAffordableTextbookscampaignwherewehavehadsuccessbothatthelocallevelandthenationallevel. Theteaminvolvedinwritingthisreportandcollectingsurveysare: • TheAffordableTextbooksCampaign2018
• KharlReynado,campaigncoordinator • CaseyTortal,campaignmember • ErinMcConnell,reportcoordinator • DeevenaAnnavarjula,presentationcoordinator • MorganRhinehart,visualaidscoordinator
• TheAffordableTextbooksCampaign2017• SamanthaRojas • VasilikaPapas • ArifPrabawa • SamanAzimi
• KathyLabadorf,theOpenEducationalResourcesLibrarianfromtheUConnLibrary
• KaitlynVitez,theHigherEducationAdvocateforU.S.PIRG• ArielleMizrahi,thecampusorganizeratUConnStorrs