Students at UCLA and at college campuses across the country are
finding themselves paying more for textbooks thanks to little-used
supplements, according to a study by the Government Accountability
Office.
The study, released last month, found that textbook prices have
risen at twice the rate of inflation in the last two decades,
increasing by about 6 percent each year since 1987.
Students and faculty are mobilizing in different ways to fight
these increases and keep textbooks affordable.
The sharp rise in textbook prices is largely the result of
publishers developing ancillary products, such as CD-ROMs, that are
then shrink-wrapped with the textbook, a process called
“bundling,” the report found.
The GAO report echoed the findings of an earlier study by the
California Public Interest Research Group called “Ripoff
101.”
Publishers in the GAO report said they are merely trying to stay
competitive in the academic marketplace by focusing their efforts
on a wide range of extra materials meant to enhance the academic
experience.
But the extra educational products, especially CD-ROMs come at a
cost to students, in the form of higher priced books.
Fifth-year molecular, chemical and developmental biology student
Ethel Sale knows all too well the high prices of textbooks.
While awaiting refunds from financial aid to be disbursed, Sale
has had to take out several emergency loans from Student Loan
Services over the last three years to temporarily cover the cost of
books.
Sale said no one she knows actually uses the CDs, although some
of her professors had utilized them in the past.
“I haven’t met anyone who’s really benefited
from the CD. CDs are a waste of money and a waste of time,”
she said.
The average student spends about $900 a year on textbooks
according to the CALPIRG report. In some instances, CDs sold with
textbooks have caused their prices to nearly double.
Sale estimates that she will spend a little over $500 on books
in fall quarter alone.
Besides limiting the ability of students to purchase used
textbooks, the report concluded that bundled items aren’t as
useful as publishers claim.
Most of the faculty surveyed in the report said they rarely or
never used items bundled with the textbooks used in their
courses.
UCLA mathematics professor Ronald Miech echoed the sentiment
that the bundled CDs are unnecessary.
“The publisher’s claim that the professors are
“˜demanding the software’ seems rather dubious to me. I
would bet that if you surveyed all the faculty in the math
department you would find a very small percent who use the bundled
software,” he said.
Miech will teach an introductory calculus class fall quarter and
said he would not be using the CD that comes with the book.
Since last year, over 700 faculty members from universities
across the country, including UCLA, have signed petitions asking
Thomson Learning, a major textbook publisher, to stop coming out
with unnecessary new editions of its introductory math and physics
texts.
“The cost of basic physics texts is far too high. Students
can afford at most one physics book per course. This gives them no
choice of explanation,” said physics professor Steve Cowley,
who along with Miech, signed the petitions.
To help lower the cost of textbooks, the State PIRGS urge
publishers to produce new textbook editions only when necessary,
and give faculty and students the option to purchase textbooks sans
CDs.
“Too much effort is spent on the extras: CDs, pictures
etc,” Cowley said.
“The text is the key and that could be produced much more
cheaply.”
The skyrocketing of textbook prices has students and faculty
searching for answers.
UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Los Angeles have both adopted
academic senate resolutions in support of affordable textbooks.
Many students opt to buy used textbooks through Web sites such
as eBay or Amazon.com, and services like Santa Monica-based Book
Dude, where students order their books online and have them
delivered the next day. Alternative internet retailers often offer
substantially lower prices than those found in university
bookstores.
Expensive textbooks inspired David Gutierrez to create
TextbookZ.com as an undergraduate student at UC Riverside.
“Students pay enough for tuition, housing and living
expenses associated with college ““ they shouldn’t be
held hostage by the textbook publishers,” said Gutierrez in a
statement.
The Web site allows students to buy, sell, or trade used
textbooks with each other, utilizing the fact that revisions made
to new textbooks are often not that different than the previous
edition.
However, the Web site is not immune to textbook bundling or
dramatic revisions, which can make purchasing a new textbook all
but mandatory.
TextbookZ cofounder Patrick Calderone said publishers who
outdate their books by releasing newer editions could still take
advantage of students in these ways.
But some progress has been made.
A CALPIRG campaign to lower textbook prices last year led the
UCLA Store’s textbook division, the mathematics department
and a prominent publisher to reach an agreement that would lower
the cost of calculus books by 20 percent.
Now available, the cheaper books feature less color, fewer
graphics and come unbundled.
Building on the success, student PIRGs organized to create a new
position in the Make Textbooks Affordable campaign.
Hannah Nguyen, the campaign’s organizer, said the GAO
report confirms that the issue is garnering more attention and
publishers are taking note.
“Now, everyone knows that it’s a problem, even the
government,” she said.
Nguyen said the campaign’s goal is to reach 100 campuses
nationwide in the upcoming school year to increase the pressure on
publishers to lower textbook costs.
The campaign is nearing its goal, with almost 60 campus groups
involved so far, including the UCLA student PIRG.
In the meantime, Nguyen encouraged students to participate in
the Stop the Bundling Boondoggle Bonanza on Sept. 28.
The event hopes to get hundreds of students to call publishers
and voice their concerns over unaffordable textbooks and will
commence the campaign’s activities for the upcoming academic
year.