Most Iowa State students paid more than $150 for textbooks this semester, and most feel the prices are too high, according to a survey done late last month.

A telephone survey of 311 students conducted by a journalism reporting class found 90 percent of those questioned paid more than $150 for textbooks this semester, and 54 percent paid more than $200.

Only 10 percent of those surveyed said they think textbook prices are “fairly reasonable.” Fifty-five percent of the students thought prices were “fairly high,” and 31 percent thought the prices were “very high.”

A female junior in journalism said, “All of the books are priced too high. It’s a big scam.”

A female senior in psychology said she used to sell books, “so I know there’s a huge mark-up. They know they’ve got you; it’s like extortion.”

Because of the high prices, 26 percent of the students said they chose not to purchase some required textbooks.

Pamela Mills, manager of the Memorial Union’s University Bookstore, agreed that books are high-priced.

“We know books are expensive,” Mills said. “But it’s relative in terms of your education. When you look at it in terms of your entire campus career, it’s a pretty small part.”

Mill said the store tries to ensure lower textbook prices by selling a high percentage of used books and by keeping the mark-up percentage low.

The survey also indicates that students feel they are treated unfairly by the bookstores when they sell back their books at the end of the semester. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said when they resell books purchased new, they generally get back less than half the price they paid.

Forty percent of the students said they felt the buy-back prices were “somewhat unfair,” and 35 percent said the prices were “very unfair.”

A female senior in biology said, “Sometimes you lose up to 80 percent of what you paid for a book. It’s pitiful.”

A senior female in early childhood education added, “I think it’s outrageous that they charge us for a new book, buy it back for less than half the price, and then sell it again at only a little less than the original price.”

Mills said University Bookstore tries to offer students up to 55 percent of the purchase price for books when they sell them back.

Most students surveyed either shop for textbooks only at University Bookstore or at both University Bookstore and Campus Book Store. Only 15 percent of those surveyed said they generally bought textbooks only at Campus Book Store. Forty-eight percent said they generally shopped at University Bookstore, and 36 percent shopped at both of the stores.

But Graham Gillette, publicity spokesman for Campus Book Store, said students benefit from the “competitive environment.”

The survey did not show students felt there was a big difference between the quality of service or the prices at the two stores.

Fifty-three percent of those surveyed said prices at the two stores were “about the same,” and 31 percent said they didn’t know which stores prices were higher.

Most students, 56 percent, had “no opinion” about which bookstore offers the best buy-back prices, and 21 percent said they thought both stores offered “about the same” prices.

The students surveyed were split on which store’s employees were the most helpful. About 30 percent touted University Bookstore employees as the most helpful and about 30 percent said Campus Book Store employees were the most helpful.

Although 36 percent of the students rated Campus Book Store highest in terms of speed and efficiency in serving customers, 25 percent rate the two stores “about the same,” and 20 percent had no opinion.

Floyd Ballein, manager of Campus Book Store, said in a prepared statement that the poll “shows that a large segment of the student population enjoys the benefits of being able to shop at the store of their choice.”

Seventy-one percent of the students surveyed said not all of the textbooks they needed were in stock at the bookstores where they shopped this semester. University Bookstore rated the highest in terms of in-stock availability of needed books, at 32 percent. Twenty-five percent of those surveyed rated the two “about the same,” and 30 percent said they had no opinion.

A male freshman in elementary education said, “I don’t think either of the stores does well in keeping all needed books in stock.”

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.6 percentage points. The 311 names were picked at random from the student directory.