Make Textbooks Affordable
The textbook affordability regulations passed by Congress in 2008 went into effect on July 1st. From now on, textbook publishers are required to disclose important price information to professors and offer all textbooks unbundled, and colleges will need to inform students which books are required for courses during registration. Click here to read more.
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! Publisher tactics make matters even worse -- from bundling books with useless CDs and pass-codes to issuing unnecessary new editions so that used textbooks are impossible to find.
Publishers get away with all of this because students don’t have a choice -- we’ve got to buy the book they’re selling, even if the price is outrageous. So, we’re working to change the market so publishers can’t take advantage of students. Our top priority is to promote open-source textbooks -- free, online, high quality textbooks that can compete with the publishing industry.
To do that, we’re encouraging more professors to assign open textbooks instead of expensive books, and we're calling on Congress to establish a grant program for open textbook authors. We're also keeping the pressure on publishers by building awareness of the issue and helping students save on textbooks.
Head over to our Action Center to join our national campaign to fight for affordable textbooks!
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Conference call with Sen. Durbin on new textbooks law
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Federal price disclosure law becomes effective
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Dept. of Ed releases guidance on HEOA textbooks provisions
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High Tech Textbooks: A Snapshot of Student Opinions
New developments in the textbook marketplace - e-readers, netbooks, iPhones - promise new methods of distributing and consuming textbooks. Will this mean savings for students? This brief survey of 1,133 college students, investigates student attitudes toward technology and textbooks. The findings are that students are ready to explore new ways to read their textbooks, but the solution will not be one-size-fits all. |
Nicole Allen, Director
(401) 484-8104
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44 Winter St, 4th Fl
Boston, MA 02108
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