For those of you with experience, curios as to what your kids ACTUAL book cost were compared to the NPC’s?
Anywhere from $7 to $300 per semester, averaging around $150, depending on how many can be found as rentals/used/borrowed/illegally downloaded (I’m assuming).
Publishers team with professors to force kids into buying mandatory online access codes, making used books nearly unusable (code is free with a new book, 90% of the price of a new book by itself).
Probably depends a lot on the type of courses.
$0: if the instructors make all course materials available on the web at no cost.
$low: some classics or literature courses where low cost paperbacks are used (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Shakespeare-William/dp/1981363386/ ).
$high: lots of other books, particularly if online access codes are required, preventing the use of used books.
Most of the time if you buy an online access code it comes with a online ebook, so that helps.
For my 4 classes next quarter, I will spend about $75 unless I need an access code I don’t know about yet. I found a pdf version of one super expensive engineering book for free so that was helpful. I like having all ebooks because I commute and its easier to carry around a laptop.
very variable… some semesters around $100; some up to $450. Just purchased books for spring-- 5 engineering classes- $375ish total; one class uses a book purchased last semester. We tend to buy used books via Amazon or other online sources- it is more than renting, but if you figure in resale value you end up saving. I ordered 2 texts that were priced as used… each was about $25 more than the rental fee… and what was delivered were brand new books- and since they are relatively new editions I’m sure they will resell for a good portion of the cost-- or if kid thinks they will be helpful in the future she may decide to keep them.
Varies greatly depending on types of classes, where the books are purchased and whether grey market versions of the books are available. For example, Wiley is a major publisher of college level textbooks. The price on many of their math textbooks at the official campus book store can be in the $150-200 range and about 25% less on line. They also produce soft cover versions of the same textbooks for the Indian market that sell in India for under $10, and cost about $15 to ship to US. Spending on books has ranged from <$400 to >$800/semester so far.
NPC estimate was $1000 per year, currently averaging around $450/yr for a ChemE sophomore. He rents most books, uses course packs, and in the case where he had to purchase them he sold them back for a net cost near rental prices. Abebooks & Amazon have had the best prices so far. Supplies and course/lab fees have run around $200/yr. We’ve purchased many of the Indian books that @tdy123 mentions too, they are identical to the US versions except for softcover and really thin paper.
S17’s books last semester were ok, but then I got hit with an entire drafting kit that I needed to purchase for him on short notice. It was about $150.
My DD’s school estimates $600 for books per semester. She came awfully darn close to spending that, as one class ended up around $300 and there weren’t any used options. Included in those costs are buying her own blue books and scantron sheets for exams, and some clicker thingy. Her costs for next semester should be lower, since the class that required the $300 in books will use the same ones next semester.
As someone who double majored in the sciences and the humanities, this. I was typically able to check the books out from the library for my humanities classes and otherwise bought very cheap used copies via Amazon, so book costs were virtually negligible. My science textbooks, on the other hand, were always pretty expensive.
It’s often a good idea to wait to buy books until you see the syllabus for a class. Some professors assign books that are ultimately only recommended reading or are used only for one or two classes rather than the entire term (which means you can probably get by with a copy from the college library or interlibrary loan).
My daughter currently gets free textbook rentals for dual enrollment. When looking at the college list of books to make sure she was returning them all it takes you to the bookstore. Her free rentals for 5 classes (one is math with a matlab code, and I think another had an online code as well) with only one math and no science books the total would have been over $800 to buy all new. The spring semester has again 1 math class and no science class the cost would be $995 for books for 5 classes new.
Lots of good info…thanks.
For her first semester, my D spent about $180 on books. Her best friend spend about $1,200. My niece spent about $1k. To give you an idea, my D is an education major and a lot of her material was on-line where her friend and my niece are both pre-med.
So many college bookstores now use Barnes and Noble. When profs enter their textbook into the system, they’re required to enter a version of the textbook that is currently stocked. Some nice profs (like my H) will email their students to let them know older versions of the textbooks are also acceptable. Some profs insist everyone have the same version, since page numbering might be different and problems corrected.
As mentioned above, D was all humanities - so while we might be buying 30+ books per semester, most were very inexpensive to buy gently used, and then she resold the ones she didn’t want to keep. Her most expensive book was her Spanish book, since it was brand new and we were also required to purchase an online code. That one book probably added up to an entire year of her other books. She also had no lab fees.
S is in engineering, so he tends to rent textbooks since even used many of them are quite expensive - and his lab fees grow every year.
Thanks again for the book tips. However, my original question was in relation to what your NPC showed for books to actual expenses. IE. “my NPC showed ~$1,200 for the year but our actual costs were $~700.” Trying to gauge how accurate the NPC’s for books are. Thanks!
That totally depends on the major, the book selections the professors make, how savvy you are about buying used/renting, what’s available on the used market, and other factors. There’s really no way to determine accuracy with regard to books.
Book costs can vary wildly even from one semester to another.
Professors are very cognizant of the cost of books and supplies now, because they are so expensive when compared to a student’s earning capability. Many students at my son’s uni are on scholarship or FA, and it is a real struggle for the students to find enough money for books. For example, in his organic chemistry class, they used a $35 course pack and a $25 lab manual instead of a $250 textbook. They list a lot of optional materials, but those are easily obtained from the library. Finally, old versions of the books are perfectly acceptable in mature subjects. Homework problems are created by the professors/TAs instead of using problems in the book, which also allows flexibility in the textbook editions.
NPC was $700/year when we ran the numbers last year for S2.
Evidence for this?
One place I visited with DD includes textbooks with tuition - I never heard of that! DS shops around for his and runs between $3-500/semester