As a new semester begins at Fresno City College, students once again face a hidden cost — textbooks. These required books often cost as much as the class itself, leaving many students frustrated.

A couple semesters ago, I had to purchase the textbook, “Traditions and Encounters: A Brief Global History,” for one of my courses. At first, I didn’t think much of it—until I saw the price. Even buying a used copy cost me about $40. Over the entire semester, we only used it a handful of times. Now it just sits in the back of my closet, collecting dust. It always bothered me how little the textbook was used. It was required, but in reality we used it so little that the cost didn’t justify how much I paid for it.

Buying books for class isn’t always a bad idea, however, when you factor in how much they cost and how little they get used sometimes, the system doesn’t make sense. Why should students spend hundreds of dollars each semester on books that might only be opened a few times a semester? According to Average Cost of College Textbooks: Full Statistics, students can spend over $1,000 on textbooks alone.

“It sucks because the books are expensive,” said Bobby Adame, a nursing major at FCC.

Thankfully, students can avoid taking classes with required textbooks, since registering for classes informs students whether a course requires one. 

“My classes emphasized there were no required textbooks, and showed us where to find our required reading on canvas,” said Les Earle, a computer science major. 

A recent poll taken by The Rampage website found that 36% of FCC students believe textbooks are “maybe a little” too expensive, while 64% said they are “absolutely” overpriced. Not a single student believed they were fairly priced.

And while some people argue that at least students can resell their books, this option is shrinking. More and more required books are moving online, meaning they can’t be resold once the semester ends. On top of that, publishers constantly release new editions, making older copies obsolete.

Requiring students to purchase costly textbooks on top of already high tuition fees doesn’t encourage learning—it discourages it. Education shouldn’t come with such a steep price tag.

Required textbooks are holding students and the education system back, but if students call for change maybe one day we will be able to change the system for good. Education is a right not a privilege.