Engineering Degree Online | The college textbook scam

Posted by bposton on November 10th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

OK, it’s time for me to jump up on my soap box again… :-)

No, it’s not about diploma mills (but don’t get me started on that one…)

This tirad I’m about to start is about the ripoff regarding college textbooks.

Ripoff? Absolutely…

Get this - the basic introductory physics textbook for college students has remained pretty much the same in the past 100 years, or longer. So it really bugs me when a freshman physics student has to buy a new textbook that’s about $160., even though the one he used in high school probably has the very same material.

Students all over the US are struggling as it is. So add to that whammy of college costs increasing, now they have to beg, borrow and steal to afford the textbook that the good ‘ol professor tells then they need, and then NEVER uses it in class!!!

:-(   In fact, double :-( :-(

Here are the facts, my dorm room buddy…

There are thousands of textbooks published each and every year, and add them all up and it’s a $6.5 billion dollar a year business.

That’s “Billion” with a B

Don’t take my word for it. That figure comes from the National Association of College Stores.

Fact - The cost of the average college textbook increased 186 percent between 1986 and 2004, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office.

And why, pray tell did the costs go up so mucn? well, according to the GAO, it was “explained” that expenses of developing and bundling additional materials like CDs, DVDs, and websites that supplement the traditional pages kept going up.

Gimme a break…

So now, the sad fact is that the average book bill for the typical student is about $900 a year.

Of course it’s even more if you’re enrolled in like sciences or art history, which use required reading that is particularly expensive to produce.

Boy. these tirads make me tired… :-)

More in my next post
Ben

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Engineering degree online : Are these the best schools with online programs?

Posted by bposton on October 20th, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

“America’s Best Colleges,” a publication of U.S. News & World Report, recently ranked the following among the best in the nation.

These schools are also associated with University Alliance Online. They’re one of the largest providers of online degree and certificate programs from the nation’s leading universities:

Villanova University

University of Notre Dame

Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business

Thunderbird - The Garvin School of International Management

University of South Florida

Regis University

Florida Institute of Technology

The University of Scranton

Saint Leo University

Jacksonville University.

U.S. News & World Report puts out “America’s Best Colleges” every year. There’s alot of detail that goes into the rankings such as school catagory and mission (are they a research university or liberal arts college) and location (North, South, Midwest and West). THen they gather for each school in about 15 areas related to academic excellence such as peer assessment, retention and graduation of students, etc. etc, etc.

So are these the best online programs? I can’t say that for sure, because each one has their own strengths and weaknesses. The best thing to do is look at each one and find out if it has the right program for you.

Ben

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