INPIRG releases study on high textbook prices

Publishers are inflating the cost of college textbooks, according to a study released Thursday by the national Public Interest Research Group. \nStudents are spending unnecessarily large amounts of money on textbooks and extra study guides that they don't need, says the report entitled "Ripoff 101: How the Current Practices of the Textbook Industry Drive Up the Cost of College Textbooks."\nThe report shows that the average student will spend $900 on textbooks for the 2003-2004 school year. \nKatie Wilkinson, Indiana Public Interest Research Group vice board chair, said the rising cost of textbooks is frustrating college students across the country. \n"I think it's ridiculous that we have to spend so much money on textbooks, especially when some teachers don't even use them very often," said IU freshman Tim Breckenridge. "I'm already paying nearly $30,000 to go here each year. An extra $400 dollars a semester really adds up, especially when you only get about $100 back at the end of the semester."\nThe new study, researched by the Oregon State PIRG and California PIRG, found the bundling of extra workbooks with textbooks drives up the cost of books dramatically.\n"A bundled textbook package can cost $120, but the actual textbook for the class only costs $60," Wilkinson said. "I don't know how that's justified. Seventy-five percent of the professors surveyed said they barely ever use those extra materials in the bundles."\nIn some instances, the bundles are the only option. The textbooks, on most occasions, cannot be bought solely by themselves, forcing students to pay almost double the price for books they may not even use. \n"My human sexuality professor apologized to the class because she didn't know our books were only offered in bundles," said Jessica Gilbert, INPIRG board chair.\nNew editions of textbooks are published every three years, and according to the study, "more than 40 percent of the faculty surveyed said the new textbooks were 'rarely' or 'never' justified." These textbooks often contain no new content and cost 58 percent more than the used copy of older editions.\nINPIRG is offering several policy recommendations for students, publishers and faculty to help drive down the cost of these textbooks and offer lower cost options to buy textbooks. \n"Paper and online supplements for textbooks would decrease the need for new editions of books," Wilkinson said. "Especially with expensive calculus books -- has much really changed in calculus over the past 100 years that there needs to be a new edition?" \nINPIRG's proposition is when small changes are necessary to textbooks, the changes be made available online or in paper format. This would allow students to buy less expensive and older editions of the books and make the supplements available in the bookstores the same way course packets are. \nAnother suggestion lies within the use of www.BuyIU.com, a textbook exchange Web site with a style similar to www.eBay.com. \n"BuyIU.com is a free Web site,, which is a database of books that students post," said Tyson Chastain, IUSA director of student involvement. "You can post what books you want to get rid of to swap them or sell them -- the terms are up to you. We really think this site can be a success, but it needs the support of students and faculty."\nDirector of the IU Bookstore Paul Hazel said the bookstore has always supported student groups.\n"We have as many used books as we can," Hazel said. "We have been fighting publishers bundling books for awhile, but it is ultimately the consumer that can make the difference."\nThe site is another solution INPIRG hopes will give students a low-cost way to buy textbooks and also allow students to sell books at any time, not just at the end of the semester. \n"When you drop a class in the middle of the term or you want to sell it over the summer, now you have the chance," Chastain said. "The tools are available, but we need students to back it."\nOther recommendations from INPIRG include more forums for used books, talking to faculty to see if new editions are really necessary for class and trying to make books available in unbundled forms.\n"We work for students, speak for students -- we are students," Wilkinson said. "Our biggest goal is to make textbooks as affordable as possible, but we cannot do it without the support of the administration, faculty and students."\n-- Contact staff writer Mallory Simon at mgsimon@indiana.edu.