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# The Dash For Cash: The Cost of Written Words
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/the-dash-for-cash-the-cost-of-written-words/
- Published: 2018-05-11T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:39:12.000Z
- Description: In today's college world, two things terrify students: failing a class and textbook prices. This podcast digs into those textbook prices.
- Author: Tyler Brunner/KBVU The Tack, Buena Vista University
- Tags: iowawatch, The Lead Story, Buena Vista University, college debt, education costs, higher education, Iowa College Media Association, Iowa State University, Loras College, Simpson College, textbook costs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

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In today’s college world, two things terrify students: failing a class and textbook prices.

> Last in a series.

The price of textbooks has been rising, [rising 250 percent the past 34 years](http://www.aei.org/publication/the-college-textbook-bubble-and-how-the-open-educational-resources-movement-is-going-up-against-the-textbook-cartel/?ref=investigatemidwest.org). Often, students buy a book and either never use it again, or get a low buyback price, if selling at all, a spring 2018 IowaWatch/College Media Journalism Project showed.

What do students think about the price of textbooks? How do the professors decide what book to use? This podcast answers those questions.

##### [READ MORE: HIGH TEXTBOOK COSTS ARE SENDING STUDENTS LOOKING ELSEWHERE DURING STUDIES](https://investigatemidwest.org/high-textbook-costs-are-sending-college-students-looking-elsewhere-during-studies/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

###### [Bookstore Works On Way To Make College Textbooks Affordable](https://investigatemidwest.org/bookstore-works-on-way-to-make-college-textbooks-affordable/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

###### [Moves At The University Of Iowa To Reduce Spanish Textbook Costs](https://investigatemidwest.org/moves-at-the-university-of-iowa-to-reduce-spanish-textbook-costs/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

###### [Video Feature: College Students, Faculty, Staff And Their Concerns About College Textbook Costs](https://investigatemidwest.org/video-feature-college-students-faculty-staff-and-their-concerns-about-college-textbook-costs/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

##### The 2018 IowaWatch/College Media Journalism Project:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/Textbook-Squeeze-Project-Logo.jpg)

Student journalists working with IowaWatch conducted more than three dozen interviews in February and March for this report. Those journalists are:  
Lauren Wade, Maria Curi, Helaina Thompson and Hannah Archambeau at the University of Iowa; K. Rambo, Alex Connor, Caitlin Yamada, Jill O’Brien and Naye Valenzuela at Iowa State University; Amber Krieg at Loras College; Sabrina Bryant, Keegan VanDevender, Jasmin Sonnenschein, Jace Neugebauer, Jimmy Ott and Helene Larsen at William Penn University; Kylee Deering, Olivia Wieseler, Emily Kenny, Kyle Wiebers, Tyler Brunner, Madeleine McCormick and Alyssa Donnelly at Buena Vista University; Sofia Legaspi and Anna Flanders at the University of Northern Iowa; and Blake Carlson and Zoe Seiler at Simpson College.  
*Special thanks to Andrea Frantz, Buena Vista; Matt Wagner, William Penn; Craig Schaefer, Loras College; and Emily Barske and Mark Witherspoon, Iowa State Daily.*