College textbooks and course materials for most graduate programs can be extremely expensive. Indeed, it is not uncommon for students to spend between $500 and $750 on textbooks per semester depending on the courses and the degree that the student is pursuing. Since most college students need to borrow money to attend school, they may need to take on more debt to pay for textbooks they need for class. However, when saving money on textbooks, students should keep a few things in mind to protect their bottom lines.
Buy Used Books
Perhaps the most important thing to know about saving money on textbooks is that students usually do not need to buy new books for class. Indeed, professors usually require that students purchase a specific edition of a textbook, and so long as that edition is purchased, students can buy used books. Textbooks that have been owned before may have highlighting and other notations in the margins, but this should not be too distracting for most students.
It should be noted that some used textbooks might not be in a serviceable condition. If pages of a textbook are damaged, or pages are missing, the used textbook might not be helpful. However, students should consider purchasing complete textbooks from their college bookstores or online so that they can save money when buying course materials for class.
Sell Back Books
After you are done with textbooks, another thing to keep in mind when saving money on textbooks is that you can usually sell back your textbooks to other people who may need them. As mentioned above, there is an active market for used textbooks, and numerous outlets offer to purchase used textbooks. For instance, many college bookstores offer to buy back textbooks, but students should keep in mind that college bookstores normally offer less money for used textbooks than other outlets. There are also a variety of online outlets that offer to purchase used textbooks.
If students want the best chance possible to sell their textbooks for the best price, they should keep the materials in the best condition possible. This usually requires that students ensure that no pages are missing, that there are few creases in the materials, and that printed content in the materials are not destroyed. If students keep these strategies in mind, they should be able to sell back their books, which should give them more money to purchase books in future semesters without borrowing additional student debt.
Library Reserve
Another thing that many students may not know when thinking about saving money on textbooks is that course materials may be on reserve at the campus library. On reserve means that the books can be reviewed by students, but the materials cannot be taken out of the library, or the books can only be taken out of the library for a short amount of time. This allows students in a class to have quick access to materials and ensures that no students hog books for an extended period of time to the exclusion of other students.
If students need to purchase several books for a course, they can pick and choose which materials to purchase and which materials to review while the books are on reserve at the campus library. Indeed, I have a friend from law school who relied on reserve books to save tons of money on textbooks for at least his last year of law school. It should be noted that this strategy has a number of risks. For one, it is possible that books will not be available to review when the student needs to read the materials. This can impact your grades, and grades are extremely important in many academic programs. However, if you do your research, and ensure that the campus library has the required materials on reserve, relying on reserve materials can improve your bottom line.
Pool Resources
If you have friends in an academic program, students can pool their resources when saving money on textbooks. Sometimes, students need to purchase a primary textbook for a class and a number of secondary materials can help students prepare for examinations. For instance, in law school, there are a variety of horn books that simplify material and make it easier to study for exams.
It is possible that a group of people can purchase these secondary materials so that one person does not need to pay for all of the materials alone. Then, each student can swap their secondary materials in order to save money. In law school, I never purchased all of the secondary materials upon which I relied when preparing for class and exams. Rather, I swapped these materials among some of my friends at school to save money. Of course, if you pursue this strategy, you run the risk of not having access to the appropriate materials when you need it, but pooling resources can help you build interpersonal relationships and save you money.
All told, higher education is extremely expensive, and students normally need to fork over hundreds or even thousands of dollars a semester on top of the tuition and costs they must pay as a student. By keeping a few things in mind, saving money on textbooks can be easier and can impact the amount of student debt you need to borrow to earn your degrees.