The topic I have chosen for my opinion editorial is the books for BYU college students. I think that the administration should work to cut down the excessive fees for textbooks in order to help alleviate the costs associated with attending college. This topic is extremely relevant to all of the BYU college students enrolled at this university because we are all required to purchase at least one book for every class we sign up for.
Not only is the tuition for just school here at B.Y.U. so expensive, but adding on the costs of books makes it almost impossible for some students to go here. Often times professors will only reference a book that you payed 200 dollars for, 2 or 3 times during a semester. Is buying that book really necessary in that situation? Are there any other options?
When thinking about a solution to this problem, I think that the administration should roll the fees for textbooks in with tuition without having to raise tuition. I know that to some people this may seem unfair because it is as if we are getting free books, but if you are required to have a certain book for a certain class, why not just make it come with the class instead of having it has a separate purchase.
Another solution would be to have the books online. For a minimal fee, students would have access to any book they needed online. This would save paper, save time to pick up books and take them back. It would also help when books go out of date. An online book would be east to update and as a result you would not have to go buy new ones every time one little thing changes.
With this issue, I am going to have to assume that my audience is a group of poor B.Y.U students that are in desperate need of money and a good education.
I agree with you! Paying tuition, housing and the meal plan took a huge dent out of my wallet. Once I felt like I had it under control, I come to school and find out I have to pay almost another $500 for books. It is a terrible situation for the starving college kid. I think you have really good solutions to this problem that will make sense to people. I think you've got a great start!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too Kayla. Books are way too expensive especially when professors dont have you use them very much. I have a few suggestions/comments... Although books are pretty expensive tuition for BYU is very cheap. If you compare it with other colleges it is ridiculous how much cheaper BYU is, most other colleges are at least two times more expensive. So unless that thought is particularly relevant i would not put that as one of your arguments. I would focus more on why books are expensive not the whole experience. Also i have heard of many ways to save money on books such as amazon, renting books, ebooks, professors writing there own version and many other ways that all cut down on cost. So be careful to not use an idea that is already in practice. I do really like your idea with combining books with tuition, definitely put that in. Well, i hope my ideas were a little helpful, you did really great!
ReplyDeleteThis will make a great paper because it is an issue that almost every student will be able to relate to in some way or another. Like Allison said just be careful not to use ideas that are already working but possibly you could address the idea that the bookstore uses these resources to get the prices down for students. Just make sure to include emotional appeals to engage your audience and it will turn out great. Good job so far!
ReplyDeleteI think you may run into problems proposing that textbook costs should be rolled into tuition without raising the cost of tuition. How would that work financially for BYU? Tithing pays for a significant portion of our tuition, which is why our tuition is significantly less expensive than other private universities. If you asked for textbooks to be rolled into tuition without raising tuition, you would essentially be arguing for a big tuition cut to accomodate for the textbook prices, which would likely mean asking for more tithing subsidies. BYU would still have to buy the books, so without our paying for them, they would be hurt financially.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you think through the whole solution so you can propose something that would be feasible for BYU.