College texts now a major expense

NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The cost of college textbooks has escalated in recent years in the United States to the point that some used books are priced at close to $100.

The U.S. General Accountability Office and the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that the cost of college texts increased an average of 6 percent a year from 1986 to 2004, The Times-Picayune newspaper in New Orleans said. That means textbooks sell for more than three times as much as they did in the late 1980s.

Patrick Linn, manager of the bookstore at the University of New Orleans, has been selling college texts for more than three decades.

"I can remember back in the old days when we were selling textbooks for $3 or $4 used and $20 to $25 new, " Linn told The Times-Picayune. "Now it's not uncommon for a freshman-level biology or chemistry book to be $150, $189. "

The bookstore had one used algebra text that was being offered for $85.35.

Students are trying to cope with the escalating prices by doing without textbooks, sharing them and combing the Internet for the best deals, the newspaper said.