Make Textbooks Affordable
Everyone knows that textbooks costs are out of control. The average student spends $900 per year, and prices are rising four times the rate of inflation!
It’s no accident that textbooks are so expensive. Publishing companies have been raking in huge profits while engaging in bad practices that drive up costs: issuing new editions that make used books hard to find, bundling textbooks with unnecessary CDs and pass-codes, and more. They get away with it because students don’t have a choice -- we’ve got to buy the book they’re selling, even if the price is outrageous.
The good news is that we have all of the technology we need to make textbooks affordable. Already, there are rental programs at more than 1,500 colleges, hundreds of sites selling used books and more ways to save than ever before. There's also new solutions like open-source textbooks, which could literally revolutionize how much students pay for their books.
We're fighting to rein in costs by promoting cost-saving solutions on campus, while also tackling publishers' stranglehold on the market to change prices for good. We're educating students, faculty and bookstores, and raising awareness through researchand the media. We're also calling on publishers, colleges and foundations to support the creation of more open-source textbooks that could save students millions each year.
Get Involved!
Work on important issues, learn valuable skills, get hands-on experience, and make a difference.
Latest Reports
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We collect petition signatures - lots of them! -
CALPIRG’s Energy Service Corps: UCSD students working to engage students and the community about living sustainably at home via energy efficiency. Hello Wall-E. -
Hunger and Homelessness intern Roua Aboukhadijeh collecting interview footage on campus for a short film on poverty. -
Six media outlets covered a stop on the Textbooks Rebellion tour to promote affordable alternatives to outrageously expensive textbooks. -
CALPIRG students asking Governor Jerry Brown what his plan is to make higher education more affordable. -
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Vote Yes for OSPIRG! -
Power Shift West 2009 organizers with State Representative Jefferson Smith. -
Students campaign for High Speed Rail. -
Fast Trains ARE Cool. -
Students volunteer at a local garden for the National Hunger Cleanup. -
University of Oregon students and staff remind their peers to turn in their ballots on election day. -
Students at Southern Oregon University gather petitions to reduce plastic bag usage in the city of Ashland. -
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Volunteers wear the textbook mascot costumes to educate students about affordable textbook alternatives. -
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Students posing with the textbook Rebellion books, We Want Cheaper TEXTBOOKS!! -
UCSD CALPIRG’s Protect Our Oceans Campaign. We want to stop the continued plastic pollution of our oceans. Join us! -
UCSD students posing with Charlie the CFL after pledging to save energy in 1 to 4 ways at home. -
Textbook Rebel and Mr. $200 drew attention to outrageous textbook prices. -
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Students educate others about different ways to reduce energy. -
The Energy Efficiency campaign tabling to give away free CFLs and educate others about simple ways to reduce energy use. -
Student leaders educate the campus about income inequality during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. -
MaryPIRG students collect canned food for the Canpaign at UMD. -
