College Textbooks Could Be Less Expensive, Nat'l Group Says
by Jim Brown
February 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - A new report says textbook publishers are charging too much for college textbooks -- and students are paying the price for the unnecessary "bells and whistles" that drive up book costs.A report by the State Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) Higher Education Project estimates that some public university students will spend nearly $1,000 on textbooks this year. That is about 20 percent of the cost of the average in-state tuition at public universities.
Kate Rube, the State PIRGs' Higher Education Project associate, says textbooks should be priced and sold at a reasonable cost to students.
"We found that textbook publishers are increasingly bundling books together -- adding in CD-ROMs and workbooks and other extras that drive up the cost of books," Rube explains. "Also, publishers churn out new editions even when the content in the books isn't necessarily of more educational value." The result of the latter, she says, is that used books are rendered "essentially worthless and obsolete."
The PIRG spokeswoman says textbook publishers should not be releasing new textbook additions without new educational content that is of value.
"We think that online textbooks are a way to substantially drive down the cost of textbooks," she says. "About a third of the cost of a textbook is [found] in the publishing and printing costs. So if you can eliminate those costs, we think that the prices would be substantially lower for students -- and we're already seeing that."
To deal with the rising costs of textbooks, the PIRGs encourage schools to implement used-book rental programs, and faculty to give preference for the most inexpensive textbook when the educational content is equal. Rube also recommends that faculty be given the right to know how their textbook choices are going to financially impact their students.
