Has university become a pay-to-play game?

OPINION

Courses like ECON*1050 requires software that students must pay for to receive their grades. CREDIT: PIXABAY

JOHN GOODWIN

As the beginning of the Winter 2023 semester is approaching all too fast, students are once again beginning to ask themselves the age-old question: “Which textbooks should I purchase for my classes next semester?”

For some, this is a thoughtless decision. Yet for others who lack the ability to afford new textbooks each semester on top of what they pay for everything else in their lives, things can be a bit more complicated.

The financial burden placed on university students can often be a heavy weight to bear. With expenses like tuition, meal plan payments, and housing costs, it can be exceedingly difficult to afford all the necessities that come with living away from home– that is if you are lucky enough to have a home to go back to in the first place, or parents to support you financially.

Throughout my undergrad at UofG, I became increasingly confused about the costs of class materials and supplies. In my first year, I immediately knew that I would have to purchase used textbooks. It just wasn’t feasible for me to afford hundreds of dollars of new textbooks each semester. The prices alone were quite surprising to me, as I felt that free online resources often did a similar if not better job at explaining course material.

At this point, I realized that buying textbooks for each class was futile. I was simply going to purchase only the books that were absolutely necessary for my academic success.

Now for the classes in which I knew I absolutely needed the textbook, my plan was to purchase them on the used market. For some courses, this was not an issue. For others however, things were a little trickier.

A surprisingly large number of my courses required the latest editions of textbooks, meaning that there were no used versions on the market. One could choose to purchase an outdated used version of the textbook. However, content was often missing, and the page numbers wouldn’t coincide with the new editions making it hard to follow along in class.

Funny enough, a few of my professors wrote the textbooks we were expected to purchase, and re-released new editions often. Get that bag I guess.

But up until this point, buying textbooks was still a choice to be made. I could choose to take on the risk of missing content and make it up in alternative ways. I quickly found out that for some courses however, this was not the case.

Let’s look at a popular first year course, mandatory for all Bachelor of Commerce majors at UofG – Introductory Microeconomics, also known as ECON*1050. ECON*1050 makes use of a separate online learning platform called Pearson MyEconLab. For the Fall 2022 semester and for many semesters before it, quizzes completed on the MyEconLab platform accounts for between 10% and 12% of student’s final grades in the course.

MyEconLab is a paid service. Students must purchase a new copy of the $95.00 CAD textbook which comes with an online code that grants them access to the MyEconLab platform. This means that to not miss out on 12% of a final grade (a thought that most first-years tremble with fear at), students must purchase the textbook new.

ICONS BY FLATICON

When I was taking ECON*1050 I found MyEconLab quite useful when learning the course content. Alternative platforms are often wonderful ways to gain a better grasp of the course material – yet the point remains that this should be a recommended option, not a requisite purchase to complete a portion of one’s grade. In my opinion, that is absolutely ridiculous.

The Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics website claims that there are currently 3500+ students majoring in the commerce program. Because ECON*1050 is a mandatory course for all commerce majors, this means that well over $300,000 of our currently enrolled student dollars have gone to the Pearson platform.

That also means this money has not gone into our own school resources, or back into our pockets to pay for the many other fees that come with being a university student. It is also important to note that the figure above does not account for commerce students who have already graduated.

So, this all begs an important question. The situation just described is one, single course. Of the thousands of other courses offered at the University of Guelph, grades behind paywalls are a common occurrence here at our university.

How many student dollars are being thrown away?

MyEconLab is just one of many external programs used by professors - iClicker? Paid. Top Hat? Paid. Whether it is $5, or $5,000, no student’s grade should be predicated on purchasing extra resources that are often arguably unnecessary. Ultimately this is a school, not a pay-to-play phone app with microtransactions riddled throughout. We already pay for the CourseLink platform. Use it, and make all other paid platforms optional.