It
wasn’t long ago that El Conquistador reported that Damian Tovar,
EPCC’s Student government association president, had gone to
Austin with a firm request to make student life financially easier.
EPCC, now holding the president title of the Texas Junior College
Student Governments Association, hopes to make some big changes in
legislation that will assist students in receiving funding for college,
slowing the rise of tuition, and stopping the overcharging and constant
change of textbooks.
According to a letter issued by Tovar, there are over 50 Texas community
colleges in the (TJCSGA). First, they urge that proper funding be
authorized by the legislation, so that community colleges like EPCC
don’t have to make up for deficits by cutting classes, staff,
or raising tuition.
Though EPCC has maintained the rise in tuition costs, universities
in the area such as UTEP has had their share of tuition increases
to make up for the loss of federal funds. With the possibility of
an EPCC expansion executive assistant to EPCC president, Ernst Roberts
said, tuition isn’t expected to increase due to expansion, but
maybe due to a greater demand as a result of the city’s rapid
growth.
TJCSGA are requesting that “state legislators commit to the
battle that students at state higher education institutions face every
semester.” This includes “the skyrocketing cost of textbooks.”
The bill named HB 956, lists numerous changes, most of which pertain
to the rising costs of textbooks, how faculty selects books, books
that are deemed necessary to the class. In turn, the bill will allow
for the monitoring of textbook costs and help reduce price gouging.
Also included is the length of expected use for textbooks. Many students
return their books to the bookstore for a refund at the end of the
semester, only to discover that the book has been replaced by a new
edition. The bill suggests that the required use of books is no less
than three years from its initial release.
Many students complain about the lack of “used” books
available at the bookstore, but Bill would allow books to be used
more often and resold at a lesser cost to students. The bill included
book bundles, which These are books put together in a packet, sometimes
requested by certain instructors. The requests in the bill adhere
mostly to instructors. Requesting what is to be used and booksellers
not exceeding the bundle cost.
Currently there are limited resources for students to learn what textbooks
are being requested for a class. Sometimes students must wait until
the first day of class, when a syllabus is provided, which causes
heavy traffic at the bookstores. Many changes are being petitioned
to include the availability of book lists prior to taking the classes,
so that students know what books are needed.
Although many students save during tax-free weekend, but college students
rarely get discounts such as the eight-percent tax removed from textbooks.
Another bill being placed into act will question this matter, in hopes
of having the tax removed at least during tax-free weekend.
No one ever said that obtaining a higher education was cheap, but
TJCSGA wouldn’t have to put into legislation a bill, if there
weren’t companies out there trying to take an extra buck out
of a striving student’s piggy bank. To help these bills get
passed quicker, write legislators and support HB 956.
