High-Priced Textbooks’ Impact on Community College Student Success

Abstract

Objective: This research study examined textbook costs and student success rates at one community college in the Southwest United States. Method: Descriptive statistics were used in the study to identify the mean textbook costs and student success rates over five semesters. Chi-square tests for independence were used to determine if a statistically significant relationship exists between textbook costs and student success rates based on course level of lower or upper-level courses. Results: The chi-square tests of independence found a statistically significant relationship between textbook costs and student success rates in lower and upper-level courses. Contributions: Research shows college students often opt not to purchase commercial textbooks due to costs, thus resulting in higher D, F, and W rates. The results of this study support numerous recent research studies on the impact of textbook costs and student success.