Textbook prices are as outrageous as ever and, as the last year
has proven, it will not be an easy battle to reduce book costs. The
state Public Interest Research Groups released on Monday a new
version of its “Ripoff 101″ report ““ and little
has changed since the first report last January.
It is still clear: universities and professors must be more
accommodating and concerned about the financial burden of the
reading they assign.
Students face average textbook costs of about $900 a year. Here
at UCLA it is not uncommon for textbooks to cost over $100 each.
Editions are often revised frequently, resulting in books with
little to no resale value within a few years of their initial
release.
Others include extraneous materials such as workbooks and
CD-ROMs which add to the package cost but are completely ignored by
professors and students. Overall, the PIRGs found that prices have
increased at four times the rate of inflation.
The bottom line is that students are paying through the nose for
books that hardly seem worth the cost.
When the PIRGs released its first report, there was hope that
something concrete might result. The California branch, CALPIRG,
was successful in raising the issue with the state legislature, and
UCLA math professors were able to negotiate moderately lower prices
for some calculus textbooks.
But the legislature ended up passing a relatively toothless
bill, AB 2477, that merely asks professors to look at cost as an
issue and “urges” textbook publishers to unbundle
packages and release information on the different options available
for various subjects and books.
Another bill, AB 2678, sought to establish book-lending programs
at state universities, but was not signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger
because he was concerned “additional fees (would) be assessed
to all students, even those not using the program.”
While it is heartening the legislature was willing to hear, and
amplify, students’ concerns, it is equally upsetting the
issue has fallen off the radar of non-students.
The report was viewed last year as ground-breaking and many
national news sources covered it, including the Associated Press
wire service. This year, there doesn’t seem to be nearly as
much concern for students’ pocketbooks.
In California, it is likely the state government will claim it
has already addressed the issue and students will be left without
any organized help against the monstrous publishing companies much
more concerned about profits than affordability.
Students can certainly be more active about buying from
alternatives like the MyUCLA forums, BruinWalk.com or other
exchange services. But it is crucial that professors realize their
influence and that universities do more facilitating and educating
to ensure faculty utilize their substantial buying power.
If they select unbundled books, request new revisions only when
necessary, and keep the perspective of students in mind, professors
could make higher education significantly more affordable.