Textbook makers gimmick students, report says; publishers offer rebuttal

Packaged materials, new editions inflate book prices

By Kristen Hoverman
The Collegian

Over the last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation, an average of six percent each year, while between 1986 and 2004 textbooks nearly tripled in price.

This is according to a United States Government Accountability Office report made public Tuesday. The GAO report to Congress noted the key factors that are causing textbook prices to rise.

Textbooks and other college supplies are a major percentage of college expenses. The report said this percentage for full-time students is 72 percent at two-year institutions, 26 percent at four-year public institutions, and eight percent at four-year private institutions.

Lastly, the report said that the packaging of other instructional materials, such as workbooks and CD-ROMS, along with the textbooks was the key factor in the increasing prices.

Sarah Stein, a field organizer for California Public Interest Research Group, said these “bundled” materials increase costs by 30 percent.

“The report confirms what we know; textbook prices are too high,” she said. “Students were being ripped off. Any price that limits educational access without adding real value is unacceptable.”

CALPIRG found that on average, students spend $900 a year on textbooks. It also found that new textbook revisions reduce the availability of used books, which are 45 percent cheaper.

“I’m surprised at how much history can change,” Fresno State history major Jessica Szalay said of the new editions of her history books.

Currently CALPIRG is petitioning against new editions of math and physics books that do not contain significantly new content to justify revision.

The Association of American Publishers endorses the GAO’s conclusion that textbook prices have been driven up by the co-packaging of supplemental materials, said Bruce Hildebrand, the group’s executive director of higher education. But he feels that the GAO report is inaccurate in some of its calculations.

“Student supplements or technology applications can be sold separately or bundled with the textbook,” he said. “Bundled items are generally available at little or no extra cost to students because the development costs are built into the price of the textbook.”

Hildebrand also disagreed with the GAO report’s estimate of how much money students spend on textbooks a year.

“Independently derived research confirms that the average full-time equivalent student spends about $580 per year on textbooks,” he said. “Even when the cost of textbooks and supplies is combined, it accounts for only six cents of the education dollar spent by the average four-year student at a public university.”

Hildebrand also defended the liberal publishing of new editions.

“Instructors want their students to succeed by having the latest information and the most up-to-date materials,” Hildebrand said.

He said 80 percent of college professors say it is important that the material in texts used for their courses be as current as possible, and 62 percent of faculty say they prefer to order texts with the most recent copyright date.

“Professors are not impulse buyers,” Hildebrand said. “They spend months, even years to select textbooks.”

Professors at Fresno State have come up with their own solutions to textbook prices.

“We’ve been able to minimize the cost of our general chemistry textbooks for the past couple of years by sticking with the older editions longer and by writing our own set of computer assisted homework problems,” chemistry professor David Frank said.

“This semester we are further minimizing cost by going to paperback editions and by splitting the text into a first semester edition and a second semester edition.”

Though sometimes not possible, buying used textbooks remains one of the most common ways to save money. The Internet is also popular.

“We offer the largest selection of used books. Of course, the earlier you shop the better off you are,” Kennel Bookstore Director Ron Durham said.

The Kennel Bookstore also has a non-formal book exchange. Students can post books for sale on the bulletin board outside the store, providing other students a way to purchase old edition textbooks.

“I price-compare between Kennel Bookstore and University Bookstore, then buy whatever is cheapest,” said Michelle Timmons, a Fresno State communicative disorders and deaf studies major.

“Online, that’s where I go,” business major Rich Funaoka said. “If it’s cheaper.”

Chemistry professor David Frank said the value of textbooks is relative to how often or well students use them.

“You can’t just look at the cost of texts without also thinking about the value they provide,” he said. “Well-written texts and web tutorials can really help students lear, if they make use of them.”

Frank said he conducted a class survey and found nearly half of those responding used the class text for one hour or less per week.

“No wonder they think textbook costs are too high.”