The way that college bookstores used to function in the past (the "good ol' days here being earlier 1990's") is not the way that they function today. It used to be that the bookstore was owned and operated by the university or college, and had the interest of the students and the convention as its original concern. The bookstore still made a profit, but this money stayed in campus and was used to benefit the students (this behalf would cover a part of tuition/fees). At some point there began a trend where the university would lease the bookstore out to a underground company, essentially the university would off-shore the bookstore.
The bookstore would no longer be operated as a part of the school. This trend has continued until today, when most of the university bookstores are now owned and operated by a few underground companies. These companies have been able to jack up prices on textbooks, as well as all things else sold in the bookstore, and growth profits, profits which, instead of going back into the school now go only to the company (and its shareholders when it applies).
College Textbooks
Another less often talked about highlight of the "friendly university bookstore" is that these stores control in collusion with the school's financial aid office. Schools have set up a law where a part of the financial aid money (loans) received by students is put on the student Id, and this Id can then be used as a reputation card at the bookstore. This was originally put in place to preclude students from spending their loan money on something else than tuition, fees or other school associated material.
This simplification allows student loans to go directly from the bank to a underground company, most often than not the corporation that owns the bookstore. Students are only allowed to use their loan money at the bookstore, which never offers the best prices. If students want to purchase books at a venue other than the bookstore, say at Amazon they must use their own money or reputation cards.
The other choice that the school financial aid office gives students is the choice to receive a part of their financial aid money as a check (money that is left over after tuition is paid). This choice is seen as an alternative, giving students the relaxation to buy their books everywhere they want, but the fact is that this choice is very time consuming, it takes months to receive the check, and the process involves much paperwork.
When I was a student, not too long ago, I attempted to exercise this choice on multiple occasions, and every semester that I did this I was required to spend hours at the financial aid office, making sure that I would receive my loan money, and every time that I asked for my money as a check it took until half of the semester for me to receive my money. Needless to say, the time to buy textbooks had come and gone by that time. Had I wanted the money put directly on my student Id, I could have spent it at the college bookstore immediately. Students who receive financial aid are therefore forced to use the university bookstore, paying substantially more money for the books than they would if they shopped around, and used a book price comparison site.
The Dirty Truth About University Bookstores
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