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University students upset over $999 textbook.
Some students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette were shocked to see a $999 price tag on an online version of an accounting book this semester.
A screenshot of a student asking about the issue in a Facebook group has been shared widely on social media, and the university’s verified Twitter account responded Aug. 24, sparking more shares and comments.
“Acct202 requires students to have a hard copy of book pages in class to work with — so they would have to print large sections of the online copy,” read the tweet from @ULLafayette. “Our intention was to encourage students to get the hard copy so they would avoid having to print so much. We will do better next time.”
To purchase the printed and bound version of the book from the Ragin’ Cajuns Store costs less than
$300.
Some students replied to the thread to point out that they already pay a fee for printing on campus.
“We’re sorry that the price for the Acct 202 online text has caused so much strife & are working with the publisher to lower it to match the hard copy cost,” another tweet from UL Lafayette. “The $999 price was set w/ good intentions, though we realize now that we needed to explain the rationale behind it better.”
Maddy Meaux, a sophomore marketing major at UL Lafayette, made the original post in the UL Ragin Cajun Book Swap group on Facebook questioning why the online code was so high.
“I immediately assumed it was a typo or a glitch of some sort,” Meaux told The Daily Advertiser in a Facebook message. “... I’ve never had a book priced at $999. This was a first.”
But she said some books get pretty expensive, but nothing like this.
She had no idea her post would get so much attention, but she’s glad it did.
“After learning it wasn’t a typo or glitch, I knew we needed to make this known how ridiculous and crazy it was,” Meaux said.
She hasn’t spoken with anyone at the university, only saw the Twitter responses, and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the print version of her accounting book for $256.
She also was required to buy a homework packet for another $60.
“I have never spent almost $400 on one class,” she wrote, “but had no other choice considering the other option was $999.”