Book smarts

Bill aimed at reducing textbook costs

By Caroline Cournoyer, staff writer
Posted on October 4, 2007

Sophomore Kristin Davis paid approximately $700 for her textbooks this semester.

“We have to pay enough to go to school and get an education,” she said.

Recognizing the burden that college students face, Rep. Julia Carson (D-Ind.), introduced the College Textbook Affordability and Transparency Act of 2007 to the House of Representatives on Sept. 10.

The bill would make college textbooks and supplemental materials more available and affordable for students.

The cost of textbooks each semester can increase a student’s overall college fees to over 72 percent at public and community colleges, according to a 2005 report by the Government Accountability Office.

In order to reach this goal, publishers would be required to do several things. Publishers must provide the faculty of higher institutions, in advance, the bookstore price of every textbook and supplemental material along with the availability and price of that textbook in other formats such as paperback or unbound. Also, all supplemental materials such as CD-ROMs must be offered as separately priced items, according to Section Five of the bill.

“I think that’s good because if you already have the book, I don’t think you should have to buy a whole new book just for the CD,” freshman Kaitlin Hughes said.

Publishers are not the only ones that would have new rules and regulations to follow. Institutions of higher education would be required to inform students of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and retail price of each required material in the institution’s course schedule catalog, according to Section Six of the bill. This gives students an idea of how much each class will cost and the chance to purchase the materials elsewhere at a lower cost.

Junior SMAD major Hailey Adkisson said she feels stressed at the beginning of each semester about paying for her books.

“[Textbooks are] way overpriced,” she said, adding that this semester a single book cost her $160.

For undetermined reasons, the price of college textbooks has increased at double the inflation rate, according to the GAO report.

“I really don’t understand why they’re so expensive,” Hughes said.

Some speculate that the outrageous cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials is caused by the agreements that publishers have made with overseas distributors to ban the importing of cheaper textbooks, according to the GAO report.

Most students have no idea why textbooks cost as much as they do but some have thoughts.

 “They try to get the most up to date information and the better the textbook the more expensive it will be,” Adkisson said.

The Act was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor for further review, according to the Library of Congress.