College
students are still paying too much for their textbooks, as book prices
skyrocket at four times the rate of inflation, according to a new
report released by the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group
(OSPIRG) and Oregon Student Association.
“Many
students are already struggling to pay their way through college,” said
Laura Etherton, consumer advocate with OSPIRG, “The last thing they
need is to shell out hundreds of dollars more each year to buy
textbooks. The numbers are shocking – the average student spends $900
on books each year – that’s 20% of the tuition and fees at a four year
public university.”
The
new report, which summarizes a survey of faculty in Massachusetts,
confirms findings from earlier OSPIRG reports and highlights one cause
for the artificially high prices – publishers don’t provide clear
information about their prices to faculty. Less than half the
professors surveyed said that the publisher website they use to
research textbooks typically lists price information, and 77% said that
when they meet with publishers’ sales representatives, they rarely or
never volunteer the price. In addition, 94% of the faculty surveyed
reported that they would take cost into consideration when choosing
their textbooks, but many of them do not know how much the books they
assign actually cost.
“Textbook
price information is often not available on the publishers' websites,
and faculty usually don't find out the price of a textbook until it
arrives in the campus bookstore. This makes it very difficult for us to
comparison shop and find the least expensive texts for our students,”
said Professor Michael Dembrow, who teaches English at Portland
Community College.
The
common practice of bundling textbooks was also found to drive up the
cost of textbooks. ‘Bundling’ refers to the practice of shrink-wrapping
additional materials such as a CDROM or workbook to the text, and
currently affects about half the textbooks on shelves. The study found
that many professors are not able to order the book they want without
the additional materials, even when they don’t intend to use them in
class.
“From
a student perspective the bundles are frustrating” said Melissa Unger,
director of Oregon Student Association, “Students end up having to pay
for materials that aren’t used in class, and the bundled books are
difficult to sell back at the end of the course if anything from the
bundle is lost or used.”
“We
need to make sure that students are getting a fair deal.” said Sen.
Vicki Walker, chair of the Senate Education Committee, “If we are to
have the kind of society we want in the future, we must break down the
obstacles that currently limit participation in higher education,
ensuring that all Oregon residents can achieve this cornerstone of the
American Dream.” Walker is co-sponsoring a bill with Sen. Bill
Morrisette to improve textbook price disclosure and make sure students
have the option to buy textbook products “a la carte” as well as
bundled.
