By Jace Harr
The price of a college education has skyrocketed in recent decades, but it’s not only tuition that contributes to student loan debt. Textbook prices have increased more than 1000% since the 1970s, according to a recent NBC documentary.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that between January 1977 and June 2015, the price of textbooks increased 1041%, which is three times the rate of inflation in the same period. A student at a public college is estimated to need $1,225 for textbooks this year.
Mark Perry, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan who has tracked textbook prices for years, said:
- College textbook prices are increasing way more than parents’ ability to pay for them.