We already pay tuition. On top of that, some homework services are upwards of $100. We are forced to purchase textbooks for some classes and these can be anywhere from $50 and up. If students are already taking out loans and putting themselves in a financial hole, the least that the school could do is buy textbooks for classes and use free homework services.
Students put themselves in debt just to be able to attend NSU. Then, they are expected to spend even more money on mandatory homework services and textbooks. Most college students are broke as it is.
As a communication major, I haven’t been asked to purchase many services, but my girlfriend,a finance major, is asked to purchase a textbook and homework service for each of her classes.
According to a USNews survey in 2019 and 2020, the average undergraduate college student spent $1,240 on books and supplies in one year.
Let’s do some math. We know that tuition for NSU students is $16,185 per semester, or $32,370 a year. Even though this number may not be accurate, according to USNews.com, NSU has 20,579 students. Even if we consider that the school has expenses that need to be paid like employee salaries, scholarships or financial aid and taxes, the school has 20,579 students paying $32,370 a year, and that equals an unreal amount of $666,142,230.
Considering that 73.8% of NSU’s classes have less than 20 students and 24.9% of classes have 20-49 students, NSU shouldn’t have a difficult time paying for textbooks. Let’s say the school buys 20 textbooks that cost $75 each. If they charge a student $15 to rent it for the semester, the school will recoup their investment in five semesters. Compared to a lot of other schools, the price shouldn’t be as bad due to class size, especially if they are bought in bulk.
The only issue I see is that some professors prefer a certain textbook when they are teaching a course. For example, I was taking the same course as a friend, but we had different professors and different textbooks. For the school to pay for textbooks, a solution is to use one book for each subject school wide.
Homework services like Pearson and Connect need to be eradicated in general. I understand that they rent their textbooks as part of the purchase, but professors can use Canvas to give quizzes and homework assignments for free. For my 16-week public speaking course, I paid $80 for a textbook rental and some quizzes. To me, this doesn’t make sense when we have access to Canvas that is fully capable of giving quizzes without cost.
Overall, I believe NSU should take steps with helping students that are already struggling financially. It’s the least the school could do given students are paying so much to attend.
