Frustration over the cost of textbooks is starting to boil for University students such as Kiki Fornito and Kurt Stehr.

Fornito, a junior from Fayetteville, said she orders her books online because of increasing textbook prices and estimated that she saved $100 on the four books she bought this semester.

“We’re all college students trying to pay for apartments and stuff,” Fornito said. “And it doesn’t help that books cost $500 a semester. I think the prices are ridiculous.”

According to a 2005 Government Accountability Office study, the price of textbooks has increased 6 percent a year for the last two decades.

The study cites the costs of more frequent new editions and development of other learning tools such as CD-ROMS for the price hikes.

Stehr, a senior from Commerce majoring in history, said he blames professors who require multiple books, supplements, and course packets for the heavy prices.

As a result, he said he buys a combination of new and used books to minimize the costs.

“Seven or eight books for a single class is outrageous,” Stehr said. “It is even more absurd because (the publishers) come out with new editions every two years.”

Stehr added that he questions why the University has the money to build buildings and parking lots, but not enough money to make books more affordable for students.

Charles Fuller, owner of Off-Campus Bookstore, also criticized the University for refusing to adopt books – a method of standardizing textbooks used for certain courses. He said this was another way the cost of textbooks could decrease.

Fuller said the brunt of the frustration over textbook costs is taken out on local bookstores and the used-book business.

“I’m in the textbook business and even I think prices are too high,” Fuller said.

“But I’m tired of taking the blame for it. I don’t blame the students for being upset, but it’s not my fault and it’s not the students’ fault.”

Fuller said the solution to the problem is relatively simple. All the publishers need to do is buy their books back, he said.

“It’s like saying the used-car business is driving up the prices of automobiles,” Fuller said, referring to the general criticisms he encounters. “How does Ford handle that? They get in the used-car business.”

Still, Fuller said he doesn’t believe the business will change even though prices can only go so far before there is a backlash.

Tom Stanton, communications director of McGraw-Hill Education, said in an e-mailed response that his company offers multiple lower-cost alternatives to textbooks such as custom books, soft-cover editions, CD-ROMS, and Web-based material.

Professor Kent Middleton, department head of Grady College, pointed out that many times publishers are criticized for bringing out new editions with unnecessary updates.

However, he said the bookstores are still making most of the money.

As for professors requiring their own book for financial gain, Middleton said that is a misconception among most students.

“I don’t assign the book to make money,” said Middleton, who teaches from the law book he co-authored. “I assign the book because I believe it is the best book for the class.”