Editor’s Note: This is a guest commentary. The opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
For an institution that prides itself on accessibility and equity, Ithaca College ironically falls far short of perfection in its ability to provide students with adequate learning resources. Every single year, students are bombarded by the cost of educational materials. Books. Laptops. Software. The Education Data Initiative found that the average college student at a four-year institution can expect to spend $1,226 per year on textbooks. According to Jake Leary from PCMag, the average cost of a laptop is $761.32. Not to mention the college requires students to pay for their own software when needed for a class, such as the $20 a month Adobe Creative Suite required for many classes in the Roy H. Park School of Communications. And who is left to bear the brunt of all these costs? The same students that the college uses to promote its accessibility and equity efforts.
These costs act as high barriers of entry to all prospective college students, leaving many in the dust. For those fortunate enough to have family or other outside financial support, purchasing textbooks every semester is a carefree, routine activity. However, for those who are not quite as fortunate, purchasing textbooks becomes a dreaded process. My own textbooks this semester would have cost me over $300, nearly enough to cover my monthly car payment. I had to choose: fall behind on my car payments and incur a hit to my credit rating or purchase the required textbooks for my courses. Considering I cannot risk damaging my credit if I want a chance at owning a house down the road, I had to pay off my car. Obviously, I was at a disadvantage starting the semester without the required readings for my courses. This meant I had to work that much harder just to stay at the same pace as my classmates.
To be completely fair, some professors are aware of this dilemma and do everything in their power to help students, like allowing them to borrow extra copies of textbooks. While this is helpful and extremely generous, professors should not have to resort to a workaround to help struggling students out of the kindness of their hearts. The college does provide some emergency relief funding for textbooks, but there are many barriers restricting access to this program. For example, the school only uses this relief fund for “unanticipated and unforeseen circumstances.” This extremely vague language allows the college to deny students’ requests for funds if their circumstances are permanent, such as the inability to work. The lack of support that the college offers students of limited financial means enables the students of an upper-class background to pay their way through college without any fear of disruption to their academics or social life.
Students who do not have the same degree of outside financial support as their peers are put at an extreme disadvantage. Not only might they have to make a decision between a pre-existing financial responsibility and ordering their textbooks for that semester like I did, but they are also forced to create or find a source of income. While students who come from affluent backgrounds are able to solely focus on their schoolwork and treat it like a full-time job, less fortunate students have to balance school and work just to keep their heads above water. I work 15 to 18 hours a week just to afford groceries and be able to pay my car bill. That is 15 to 18 hours a week I cannot spend studying, searching for career opportunities or focusing on anything school-related. During a light 12-credit semester, that might not be so bad. However, I’ve had the unpleasant experience of taking 18-credit semesters for the past year and attempting to balance work and school. All of this without even mentioning the social aspect of college that adds an additional demand to a student’s ability to effectively manage their time. Something has to give in this puzzle, and for me, I’ve chosen to forgo several social opportunities either to complete schoolwork or rack up as many hours as possible at my part-time job.
No one should ever have to compromise their college experience for the sake of highly-priced textbooks and learning resources, yet many students have to every single semester. All of this could be solved if the college would provide sufficient financial aid to cover the costs of textbooks and additional learning resources. But for now, students will continue to struggle.
Robby Zweesaardt (he/him) is a senior advertising, public relations, and marketing communications major. Contact him at [email protected].
