SURVEY SHOWS STUDENTS OPTING OUT OF BUYING TEXTBOOKS

Students Demand Lower Cost Alternatives

Ohio PIRG Education Fund

Columbus (January 27) – Today, a survey released by the Ohio PIRG Education Fund shows that 65 percent of student consumers have opted out of buying a college textbook due to its high price, and nearly half say that textbook costs can dictate whether they take a course.

Over the past decade, college textbook prices have increased by 82%, or at three times the rate of inflation, making them one of the biggest out of pocket expenses for students and families.

In recent years, alternatives to new, print textbooks have become widely available through rental programs, used book markets, and e-textbooks, which are digital versions of print books. While these options offer students upfront savings, their prices are still dictated by the prices of the new print editions.

“Despite the growth of used book markets, rental programs, and e-textbooks, student consumers are still captive to the high prices of the traditional market,” stated Bryan Stewart, associate for the Ohio PIRG Education Fund. “We know that students can work together with campuses and other policy-makers to give students a real alternative to traditional textbooks. Our leaders can ease the burden of high textbook prices by investing in open textbooks.”

Professor of Economics at the Ohio State University, Dr. Ranajoy Ray-Chaudhuri stated, “I believe that high-quality course materials like textbooks are essential, and I want to be sure that all my students have access to those materials. It’s a serious problem if such a high percentage of students can’t afford their textbooks. We don’t need to make education any harder than it already is by also putting books increasingly out of reach.”

Open textbooks are faculty-written and peer-reviewed like traditional textbooks, but they are published under an open license, meaning they are free online, free to download, and affordable in print. 82% of survey respondents said they would do significantly better in a course if the textbook were free online and a hard copy was optional, which is exactly how open textbooks work.

Open textbooks save students $100 per student, per course on average.

Through state programs like the Open Course Library in Washington and campus programs like the Open Education Resources (OER) Project at Tacoma Community College, more and more open textbooks are becoming available. The report calls on campuses and legislators to adopt their own open textbook initiatives.

The amount that students are spending on books and supplies topped out at $1,200 this year, according to the College Board. That’s equivalent to fourteen percent of tuition at a four-year, public college – and thirty nine percent of tuition at community college. However, the report notes that spending on books has risen more slowly over the past 5 years than previously, and credits the increase in rental and used book options.

The report also notes that the federal provisions passed in 2008 to increase textbook price transparency are having some impact. Students are able to see textbook prices during course registration, and faculty can see individual book prices, all of which can steer students toward used books and rentals.

Nonetheless, the publishing industry continues to control the marketplace. Student consumers are still captive to high costs as prices on new print versions of books determine prices for used books. In order to actually turn the price curve downward, models that operate outside of traditional publishing need to be brought to the marketplace.

Ryan Smith, an Industrial and Systems Engineering major and senior at the Ohio State University commented, “I spent $450 dollars on three textbooks this semester. That’s too much, plain and simple.”

“Students can’t afford to let the publishers call the shots on textbook prices anymore,” Bryan Stewart explained.

The report, entitled “Fixing the Broken Textbooks Market: How Students Respond to High Textbook Costs and Demand Alternatives,” can be viewed on our website at www.ohiopirg.org.

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The Ohio PIRG Education Fund is a statewide student funded and directed public interest group that works on issues related to the environment, consumer protection and government reform. www.ohiopirg.org