Most of the chatter in the SFSU Bookstore in the days before classes began this semester had a common theme: textbook prices are ridiculously high.

[X]press analyzed new book prices across 107 disciplines – from accounting to women studies – to determine where text prices rose the highest.

Viewed as a whole, SF State’s textbook prices were not astronomical. A full 56 percent of all new textbooks ordered for fall 2008 cost $30 or less. Eighty percent of all texts were less than $80.

But some study areas distinguished themselves with high percentages of pricey texts.

By far, finance textbooks were the most expensive with 71 percent costing $130 and up. The median cost of a finance book was more than $140.

Accounting and economics were the second and third most expensive disciplines respectively. Both had 63 percent of texts priced at more than $130.

In addition to finance and accounting, SF State’s College of Business held two more entries in the top 10 most expensive textbooks: decision sciences and marketing.

Almost 80 percent of engineering books were more than $80.

Chemistry, math and physics all had a median textbook price of about $100 – each with over 60 percent at $80 or more.

If you’re looking for educational bargains, head to the humanities section where 97 percent of the texts are under $30 and the median book price is $14.

Most Expensive
1 Finance
2 Accounting
3 Economics
4 Engineering
5 Decision Sciences
6 Marketing
7 Chemistry
8 Mathematics
9 Physics
10 Paralegal Studies

Least Expensive
1 Humanities
2 Creative Writing
3 Comparative World Literature
4 Educational Administration
5 American Indian Studies
6 Jewish Studies
7 Classics
8 Ethnic Studies
9 Asian American Studies
10 Theater Arts

Data provided by the SFSU Bookstore on new textbook prices for the fall 2008 semester. Only disciplines with more than 10 unique book titles were included for analysis.