New Ohio bill proposing textbook fee raises concerns

Savannah Joslin/IC

Savannah Joslin/IC

Maryam Jawaid, Staff Reporter

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Paying tuition is a looming concern for most, if not all college students. An increasing number of students are obligated to take out student loans to fulfill their tuition requirements each year. It is for this reason that the new bill being proposed for Ohio schools to increase tuition by charging a textbook has been questioned among University of Toledo students.

“For the 2018-2019 academic year, the board of trustees of state institutions of higher education shall provide textbooks to all undergraduate students as a mandatory service,�? the bill, H.B. 49, states.

In accordance with the bill, the board of trustees of UT may charge a textbook fee of up to $300 for a full-time undergraduate student.

“Essentially, the bill will put the responsibility of purchasing texts books on the institutions,�? said Student Government President, Amal Mohamed. “Tuition will go up by approximately 300 dollars a semester, but all textbooks will be provided to students.�?

The bill states that the textbook fee will cover any instructional tools, such as bound and electronic textbooks and software, used specifically for curricular content instruction in a course.

According to Mohamed, student government is assembling a task force of senators that will visit various student organizations and classes to educate them on the bill. Once students understand how it will affect them and the university, they will make an educated vote.

Mohamed, fourth-year biology and psychology major, stressed that the student government aims to assess the opinion of UT students on the subject.

“We are introducing a referendum that will be made public in the upcoming weeks, in which any student at UT can vote for how they feel about the bill,�? said Mohamed.

However, the Finance Committee on Higher Education will have the final say on imposing the fee, Mohamed said.

While the effects of the bill will be felt by all students, the benefit could vary according to major.

“It depends on your major, what year you’re in and how much you use textbooks,�? said Judy Daboul, third-year biology pre-med major. “Our library itself has a lot of textbooks that you can use.�?

Daboul elaborated that, while science majors may spend around $300 on textbooks during their first year, the cost for other majors, such as English, is usually far less.

Furthermore, several alternatives exist for students, such as purchasing cheap books from Amazon, borrowing from the library and even forsaking textbooks altogether in favor of studying from lecture notes, Daboul said.

“Especially for international students, they already charge a high fee and then adding this makes it more expensive,�? said third-year psychology major, Rasha Sheikh. “While the fee doesn’t suit me, it might suit others.�?

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New Ohio bill proposing textbook fee raises concerns