WHO-TV, IA
06-06-07
Paying the Price for Textbooks
The summer schedule is now in session at state colleges. That means it's time to buys those college textbooks. But do you need to pay the prices you find at a college bookstore?
"I was originally thinking it was probably going to be 60 to 70 dollars," says college student Cody Miller.
With that in mind, Cody Miller went to buy his intermediate Spanish textbook at the DMACC bookstore in Des Moines.
"I wasn't expecting $140 at all," Miller says. Cody's text, "Imagina" comes with a workbook. Combined, the bookstore charges $145. This college student, working two jobs, wasn't prepared for the sticker shock. "Oh my gosh how am I going to pay for this?"
Cody's probably not the first college student to ask that question. DMACC says it marks up its book an average of 25%, which includes the cost of shipping. Any extra money helps run the bookstore, pay its' employees, and utilities.
"We just decided to go online to see what the difference was," Miller says. He logged on to the publishers' web site, There he found the text for $71.50. The combo package he bought at the book store for $145, is for sale online for $117.50, including shipping.
"That's still quite a bit cheaper than what they charge at the bookstore," Miller says.
Channel 13 also found some text books cheaper online than they are at the DMACC bookstore.
"Anatomy and Physiology, From Science to Life" costs $233.50 new at DMACC. We found it on for $149.10 new and $59.03 used. That's a savings of at least $84.40
The 4th edition of "Calculus Early Transcendental Functions" costs $166.75 new at DMACC. On we found it for $156 and 111.19 used. That's a savings of least $10.75.
"I'll probably buy most of my books online, the ones that I can." Cody Miller says the savings is enough for him to shop online.
He hopes his online shopping will help him maintain a college kid's budget.
"It's just something that's really hard to do when you're a broke college student."
We did some checking and most college bookstores mark up the cost of textbooks. The University of Iowa charges an additional 20% and Iowa State University charges an additional 25%. All of the school say the extra costs covers the expense incurred by the schools for shipping. Any extra money made pays to run the bookstores.
If you have questions or comments about these stories email Kerry Kavanaugh at