February 12, 2008

Spellings Sees Little She Can Do About Textbook Costs

Washington — Students struggling with the high price of college textbooks should not expect a lot of help from the federal government.

That was the message today from U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who faced a series of appeals for help with textbook costs during an appearance at the National Legislative Summit, held by the Association of Community College Trustees.

Students and administrators alike told Ms. Spellings that they were facing unreasonably high charges for textbooks. But she fended them off, repeatedly saying it was not an issue for the federal government as much as for the states and the colleges themselves to deal with.

“I’m having a hard time kind of getting a bead on what would we do, other than bring attention to it, provide leadership, and highlight best practices,” she told one student. “If you have suggestions, other than giant cash infusions around textbooks, I’m all ears.”

One administrator suggested that the secretary support a measure in legislation approved last week by the House of Representatives to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The provision would save students money by requiring publishers to separate materials like CD’s and workbooks that are typically packaged with textbooks. The proposal is not included in the Senate version of the Higher Education Act renewal. Ms. Spellings made no comment on the matter when asked for her support of the House version. —Paul Basken

Comments

1. Nothing she can do? First of all, a publisher need only put the “book” on a server and let students access it there instead of a bookstore. The financials on this business model cut the cost to the student by passing along the printing, binding, and distribution savings. You’re doing a heck of a job, Maggie!

   — marci    Feb 12, 05:44 PM    #

2. Spellings is a W coffee mate who got promoted. She is and was not qualified and has done nothing. Forget about her neither Obama or McCain will keep her.

   — doug fredrick    Feb 12, 06:30 PM    #

3. Be careful what you wish for…what’s next? Do you want the government deciding what is worth printing?

   — Limited Government    Feb 12, 08:04 PM    #

4. I don’t think the federal government is the solution to the problem of textbook prices. Private industry and faculty can handle the issue just fine.

   My publisher, CQ Press, took the intro to mass communication book I wrote originally for McGraw-Hill, removed the color photos and controlled the costs of permissions, allowed me to expand the content, and now sells the second edition for roughly half the price of the first edition.

   If faculty are presented with high-quality, lower-cost options, I believe they will choose to use them.

   http://ralphehanson.com

   — Ralph Hanson    Feb 13, 07:05 AM    #

5. Marci needs to understand that the printing, binding, and distribution costs usually account for less than 20% of the overall cost of publication. That cost would easily be offset by the cost of supporting the technology needed to sell access over the Internet to the content. And does she really think most students would enjoy reading everything on their computers? If they print out pages, they’ll likely be using desktop printers that are much less efficient, and hence much more costly to use, than printing presses.

   — Sandy Thatcher    Feb 13, 07:30 AM    #

6. When I was in college I had a NY State Regents scholarship awarded to all HS grads based on GPA. It paid for my books, which were hardly inexpensive. It needs to be said that I went to a public university, and in those days that meant no tuition. Textbooks are expensive, but the real problem is that in general we don’t support access to education for students who aren’t affluent.

   — Judith Hurley    Feb 13, 08:35 AM    #

7. With the number of profit and non-profit entities digitizing text, we are so close to the mainstream use of the electronic textbook we can almost taste it. Having someone in the administration publicly voice their support for the technology or, even better, fund test applications might just be the ticket. Moreover, what could be more environmentally conscious than saving the trees that go into all those textbooks?

   — Paul Bylaska    Feb 13, 09:15 AM    #

8. I completely believe in the power of consumers – when college faculty begin to demand more reasonably priced texts, publishers WILL fall in line – would be the same with any product – gas prices would plummet if every American cut unnecessary driving and only bought fuel efficient autos…..POWER TO THE PEOPLE, NOT GOVERNMENT

   — Pat Moran    Feb 13, 09:29 AM    #

9. I showed my students a full color text for Mass Communications and Ralph Hanson’s excellent text in black and white; I asked which one they would prefer, and they indicated they would happily pay for color pictures, even at twice the price. I was surprised; this may indicate that students are used to media that is more engaging than black and white might allow.

   — Bruce Browne    Feb 13, 10:59 AM    #

10. Can’t we help out at least a piece of the problem and do a bit of good for the environment by encouraging some use of used books? Slight alterations creating updated editions requiring students to purchase new texts from on campus bookstores from which the college receives a commission (kickback?) do not well serve struggling students. I cherish the books I’ve carted around for 25 years but certainly benefited from selling others to fellow students in the classes following me. “Follow the money” wasn’t just advice good for tracking down Watergate conspirators. Schools are collecting a few pieces of silver on these transactions.

    — Dave H    Feb 13, 11:13 AM    #

11. If faculty simply turn in their textbook requests to their local bookstore(s) in a timely manner, students are often able to recoup a much higher percentage of the cost at buyback time.

    — Dave R    Feb 13, 12:01 PM    #

12. Spellings is to education what Michael Brown was to FEMA. A political hack who did not have the qualifications to be appointed. If she were proposed to the current congress, I doubt that she would have been found qualified. On the other hand, in this particular case, I must agree with her. I am not sure what the Federal Government can do in controlling the prices of textbooks. I would rather that they worked on the price of gasoline.

    — Kurt G.    Feb 13, 12:17 PM    #

13. Digital textbooks from the big academic purblishers are available now, just ask your friendly neighborhood bookstore why they aren’t carrying them—or maybe they are and you haven’t bothered to check?

    — Tony    Feb 13, 12:38 PM    #

14. I don’t believe that the digitization of textbooks (and then selling the rights to use those digital works) is the answer to the problem. What might be more appealing, is that instructors can now create their own lectures from materials that are already available online through links to electronic texts and other publicly available resources. This would take just as much work in originally designing the course and then keeping it current as it now takes. If these courses were then shared through projects like MIT’s Open Courseware we would be a long way in resolving the problem of textbook costs. This is not what publishers want to hear. And, Spellings is not likely to advocate such a position, but she could, couldn’t she.

    — cracker jack    Feb 13, 02:50 PM    #

15. You can have any document added to your Amazon Kindle eReader, wirelessly, for 10 cents – for the whole document. As an author, you can publish on Amazon for free, sell your books and they deposit the money in your account. For most texts on Amazon, the eReader version is less expensive. All the govt. needs to do is mandate that all textbooks be available in digital form by some date. No need to control prices, the market will handle that. Even if the cost doesn’t go down, at least the students won’t receive injury after insult by having to lug them around.

    — Larry frederick    Feb 13, 02:50 PM    #

16. Please check out www.coursesmart.com. Publishers have joined together to offer the most comprehensive selection of course materials available anywhere. Students can save money by going digital (and help the environment, too).

    — brandy    Feb 13, 05:52 PM    #

17. A role for the Federal Government and the U.S. Department of Education. One answer is the Department needs to fund independent evaluations. The GAO, publishers, and other industry experts have said that the new technology and the development and adoption of supplemental materials are a primary driver of recent price increases. What we don’t know yet is if these materials are effective and warrant the higher costs. A lot of anecdotal information suggests underutilization, despite being packaged with the standard textbook. The Department’s independent Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has studied popular K-12 supplemental materials and needs to do the same for higher education. That way we will have a better sense of what works, under what conditions and allow faculty to truly factor in effectiveness along with costs. It may very well show that these higher costs are worth it, but outside of industry research and marketing claims there is not a lot of data. It also will likely illustrate the need for faculty training on how to use the new tools effectively in the classroom. This research and evaluation federal role pre-dates the creation of the Department of Education and remains even more important today.

    Two other points. (1)According to student survey data, the majority of book costs, compared to other academic required expenses like tuition, are paid for out of pocket or by credit card. Student loans, rarely work in these costs either. Financial aid has to be part of the solution. Required course materials costs are the last cost left standing by financial aid policy -an afterthought. Whether course materials cost $500 or $1500, cost will still be an issue for many students.

    (2) Whenever looking at cost savings, particularly with the promise of technology, you have to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO). There was an assumption back in the early 1990’s that distance learning would bring major cost savings for institutions. The same assumptions were made in K-12. That hasn’t been fully realized. So far e-books, which you effectively lease under strict use limits, have not achieved lower direct costs savings in many instances then buying used and opting to sell that used book. When looking at indirect costs such as students still like to print some pages of e-books, the cost savings becomes more questionable. Bottom line is this is an evolving market that may still go in several directions, but the importance of evaluation, training, and the need for financial aid should remain constant. These are roles the department can have a role.

    — Rich    Feb 17, 01:49 PM    #

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