Report says textbook are a rip-off

Advocacy group finds that students spend about $900 anually on textbooks

By Adrian Rodriguez

A report released this month confirms the sneaking suspicions of many college students—textbook prices are higher than they need to be.

Students will spend about $900 on textbooks this academic year, a rising figure that is being unfairly inflated by the textbook publishing industry, according to a report from the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), a consumer advocacy group.

The report, called “Rip Off 101: How the Current Practices of the Textbook Industry Drive Up the Cost of College Textbooks,” was based on a survey of California and Oregon universities. The report finds that:

• Textbooks are expensive and getting even more expensive

• Textbook publishers add bells and whistles that inflate the price of textbooks, and most faculty do not use these materials

• Textbook publishers put new editions on the market frequently, often with very few content changes

• Faculty support alternatives that lower student costs, maintain quality

• Online textbooks hold promise for lowering the cost of textbooks

The report was distributed at Fresno State Thursday during a press conference in front of the Kennel Bookstore, where student and faculty officials joined CALPIRG representatives in decrying the rising costs of textbooks.

“ I fully support this important moment,” said Manuel Figueroa, a Chicano-Latino studies professor and member of the Fresno State academic senate. “We used to think that books were expensive but that it was necessary. Now, we’re beginning to confront the fact that it was not necessary.”

Figueroa described a student he knows who is taking three classes. Her books this semester are going to cost her $350, he said.

“ What we have here is a captive audience,” he said, “because for students there is no other choice. That is unacceptable.”

During the press conference, students stopped to listen and those asked said the report was a simple, but important, confirmation of what many students already know.

“ They are absolutely right,” said Anna Pineda, a senior majoring in linguistics and Spanish. “It brings more light to the issue though. I myself went online and purchased my books at about half price.”

Pineda said that, in her experience, instructors don’t use CD software that sometimes comes bundled with textbooks, and since it’s not required, she doesn’t use them either.

Ron Durham, director of the Kennel Bookstore, said he sympathizes with students’ concerns about textbook prices, although as a non-profit, self-sustaining organization, the bookstore can’t lower the prices of textbooks.

“ The faculty member will decide what to get,” he said. “By our mission, we have to sell

everything [required for the class].”

But publishers don’t like used books being out there, he said.

“ We’re forced to buy new textbooks, which is what the publishers want,” he said.

Many bookstore managers are upset that some textbooks are being sold in the United Kingdom for less than they sell in the United States, he said.

Emily Clayton, a CALPIRG representative at the Thursday press conference, called this “price discrimination against American students.”

Neil Gibson, Associated Students president, said at the press conference that the AS was looking for a way to start an online book-swapping program. Students already know that book prices are too high, he said.

“ We’re just asking for a choice and a chance,” he said.