New Laws on the Books

Many state legislatures are passing laws designed to help students save money on course materials

Article tools

Printer friendly	E-mail article	Subscribe	Order reprints
	Discuss any Chronicle article in our forums
Latest Headlines 150 Campuses Win Recognition in Survey of Great Colleges to Work For More than 300 four-year and two-year colleges signed up for the second annual survey by The Chronicle, and 39 were named to a new Honor Roll for their workplace policies. New Top Republican on House Panel: Washington Doesn't Always Know Best They Thought Globally, but Now Colleges Push Online Programs Locally Jill Biden Shines Global Spotlight on U.S. Community Colleges A Town Rich in Colleges and Cows Gains a Crown College Towns as Baby Names? A Few May Resist Trendiness Commentary Kevin Carey: Stanford U., Duke U., Rice U., ... and Gates U.?

By ANNE K. WALTERS

Jason P. Tetrault, a junior at the University of Connecticut, spends between $400 and $500 on textbooks each semester. But the finance major does not even buy all the books on his syllabi. If he did, he might have to spend twice as much as he already does.

To save money, Mr. Tetrault snaps up used books when possible and forgoes the expensive ones that are for large lecture classes outside his major. Still, much of the money he earns each summer goes toward his textbooks. "I never have any chance to save anything," he says.

As college costs rise, the price of textbooks is a growing concern for students. But they are not the only ones worried about high prices: A chorus of state legislators is also singing the textbook blues.

The issue has become a popular way for state lawmakers to respond to public concerns about college expenses without demanding more taxpayer money for public universities. This year legislators from 17 states have introduced bills that are intended to make textbooks more affordable. Connecticut, Virginia, and Washington enacted laws dealing with textbook prices, and senators in New York approved a measure last month that is being considered by the State Assembly.

The flurry of activity follows recent reports by the federal Government Accounting Office and the State Public Interest Research Groups, or PIRGs, that examined the price of textbooks.

Those reports, combined with public anxiety about paying for college and limited financial-aid resources, have created a "perfect storm" for legislative responses, says Richard Hershman, director of government affairs for the National Association of College Stores.

"We've seen less financial aid going to purchase textbooks," Mr. Hershman says. "The theory is textbooks are the last thing students purchase, and it's gone by the time students might need it for books."

Minimizing Costs

The GAO and PIRG reports blamed the high cost of textbooks on the growing use of "bundles," or textbooks that are packaged with extras such as workbooks and CD-ROMs.

The reports also cited frequent publication of new editions of textbooks, even when their contents had not changed significantly.

The legislation introduced in many states reflects those concerns, but this issue is a difficult one to legislate and frequently gets tied up in debates about academic freedom and free speech. In Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat, signed legislation in April that requires the governing boards of public colleges to develop policies that "encourage efforts to minimize the cost of textbooks."

The law asks professors to consider the costs of books they order and discourages them from assigning bundled course materials. The legislation also asks faculty members to confirm that they intend to use all books they order for their classes.

Under Virginia's legislation, colleges are urged to encourage faculty members not to use a new edition of a book if an old version would suffice; it also asks bookstores to order bundled items, such as workbooks and CD-ROMs, individually if it is cost effective to do so.

The law's author, Del. G. Glenn Oder, a Republican, says he hopes professors will ask students to purchase fewer bundled course materials this fall. And representatives from Virginia21, a state lobbying group for voters between the ages of 18 and 24, think the bill will at least prompt faculty members to order cheaper course materials.

Some Virginia colleges already follow the legislature's new guidelines. David Wilson, academic division manager at Virginia Tech Services, which runs the campus bookstore at Virginia Tech, says he asks faculty members who order bundled materials whether they really plan to use each of the components in their courses. If they do not, he encourages them to consider ordering some of the bundled items separately or choosing different materials. Because he already follows some of the policies suggested by lawmakers, Mr. Wilson says, the legislation should not adversely affect his business.

Last year Virginia passed a law that requires public colleges to publish information about each of their textbooks online, so that students can shop around for the lowest prices. Virginia Tech's bookstore had already been posting such information on its Web site, and Mr. Wilson says the policy did not cut into his revenue because the bookstore's prices are competitive.

The law has helped give peace of mind to Mehreen I. Farooq, a senior at Christopher Newport University and a volunteer for Virginia21, who compares prices online before buying her textbooks. Though she does not expect to see cheaper book prices at the campus bookstore this fall, she hopes to see some changes. "I expect to see books not bundled," she says. "That'd be great."

Lawmakers in other states also hope students will see more unbundled books in stores this fall.

In March, Washington's governor, Christine O. Gregoire, a Democrat, signed a law that directs four-year public colleges and universities to adopt rules that give students the option of buying unbundled materials when possible and that disclose the prices of materials to faculty members.

The law also requires institutions to alert professors to the differences between new and older editions of textbooks, promote buy-back programs, and disclose their required course materials online.

"If all we do is provide opportunities that people can't afford to take advantage of, we're not doing our jobs," says Rep. Timm Ormsby, a Democrat and the bill's sponsor.

Connecticut's new law on textbooks, which took effect July 1, requires publishers to make the price of each book available to professors when they are choosing books to assign for their classes, and to tell professors when new editions of textbooks are scheduled for release.

It also requires public colleges and community colleges to have policies that ensure students can purchase books before classes begin, even if their financial-aid checks have not yet arrived.

The bill's author, Rep. Roberta B. Willis, a Democrat, says she had been shocked to hear that some professors had no idea how much texts cost when they assigned them to their students. She also wanted to be sure professors knew when new editions were scheduled, so that they could choose books that were likely to remain in the used-book market for several years. Such information, Ms. Willis says, "shouldn't have to be a mystery."

'Buggy Whips to Rocket Ships'

Like similar laws in other states, Ms. Willis's bill passed with only a handful of objections. But getting legislators behind the issue may prove easier than lowering the costs of textbooks.

For one thing, lawmakers are reluctant to pursue legislation that limits the kinds of textbooks professors can assign, either by restricting the use of bundles or requiring professors to use the least-expensive editions. Both requirements could infringe on instructors' academic freedom.

And publishers, who set their own prices, note that many professors request the most recent editions, as well as books that include up-to-date teaching materials. Some publishers warn that attempts to restrict how they do business might infringe on their free-speech rights.

"People are comparing buggy whips to rocket ships" when they fail to take into account the need for advanced teaching materials, says J. Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for higher education at the Association of American Publishers.

Because of concerns about academic freedom and free speech, many legislatures are left considering bills that merely encourage colleges, professors, and publishers to keep textbook prices low, or that focus on colleges' and bookstores' roles rather than on publishers', who have the most control over the price of textbooks.

"It was disconcerting for them to find that the state legislature has no teeth when dealing with publishers," says Bryan D. Pearce, chief executive officer of University Bookstore Inc. at the University of Washington. He agrees with the intent of the law passed in Washington State, but believes a focus on college bookstores distracts from the real source of price increases.

Dave Rosenfeld, the national program director of the Student PIRGs, thinks so-called disclosure bills, such as the one in Connecticut, are the best way to confront the issue because they put pressure on publishers to disclose their prices.

Student activists and legislators hope recent legislation could prompt some publishers to lower their prices.

Mr. Ormsby, the sponsor of Washington's bill, says his state is not trying to interfere with the market, but hopes the bill will prompt more consumers to vocalize their displeasure with the costs of textbooks. "Nothing would have changed," he says, "if we hadn't had this conversation."