Our research has uncovered that textbook publishers engage in practices that needlessly drive up the cost of textbooks.

1. Publishers undermine the used book market.  They release new editions every 3-4 years, which makes cheaper used copies obsolete – even in subjects like Calculus that haven’t changed in centuries!  To make matters worse, publishers customize some books to make them impossible to find used.  Finally, publishers sell deceptive “low cost” and e-book formats that are often more expensive than used books.

2. Publishers “bundle” textbooks with extra CDs, passcodes and workbooks.  Bundled textbooks tend to be 10-50% more expensive than the textbook alone, and many of the supplements expire at the end of the semester so that students can’t sell them back.  The worst part is that bundles aren’t always necessary for class – 65% of professors say that they rarely or never use the supplements.

3. Publishers keep faculty in the dark about prices. We found that 77% of professors say that publishers rarely or never volunteer the price.  Sales representatives try to keep the price out of their conversations, in hopes that professors will choose a more expensive book.  Fortunately, a new law passed by Congress will require publishers to disclose their prices, starting in July 2010.

Publishers get away with practices that most companies would never dream of!  The reason is that they have an unfair economic advantage over students.

The textbooks market is broken.  The textbooks market doesn’t work like a normal market because the actual consumers – students – have to buy textbooks regardless of how much they cost.  The people who choose textbooks – professors – are not as sensitive to price because they do not have to buy them.  Publishers take advantage of this by setting artificially high prices and engaging in practices designed to keep students paying top dollar for their books.

There is very little competition to keep prices in check.  To make matters worse, mergers and buyouts have reduced the number of publishers down to just three that control the majority of the market.  Publishers claim that the market is very competitive, but we know that their pricing is not!

It’s time to put an end to outrageous textbook prices, and we can do that by making sure there are more affordable alternatives for professors to consider using instead.  If publishers start to face competition, they will need to lower their prices and adopt fairer practices toward students.

The affordable alternative we’re prioritizing is open-source textbooks.  Open textbooks are free online, openly licensed books that are affordable to purchase in print.  Students can read open textbooks online at no cost, download them to a computer or phone, or print out sections to take to class.  Hard copies typically cost $20-40, either in the bookstore or online.  Also, open textbooks can be updated much faster to include important new information, and there’s no need for unnecessary new editions since print copies are affordable.

Dozens of open textbooks are already available, and more are being written by individual authors, grant-sponsored projects, and innovative publishing companies.  Our goal is to get these open textbooks into students’ hands, which will save money and put the heat on publishers to make textbooks affordable.

Get involved! Head over to our action center to learn more about how you can get involved in the fight for affordable textbooks today.  No matter who you are or how much time you have, you can help make a difference.

Students have run this campaign on campuses across the country since 2003, and over the past 6 years, we’ve made some progress towards more affordable textbooks.  Here are some of the highlights: 

Passing laws.  We celebrated a huge victory over publishers when we passed federal legislation that requires publishers to disclose their prices to professors.  As of July 1st, 2010, publishers will also need to offer all bundled items separately, and schools will need to provide the list of required textbooks before school starts. This federal law followed several state-level victories, which we helped secure in 2006 and 2007.  Now we're looking forward to new legislation like the Open College Textbook Act that can help create more low-cost options.

Check out the press release from the conference call we held with Senator Dick Durbin over the summer to celebrate the federal price disclosure law going into effect.  

Promoting open textbooks.  Open textbooks are the most promising solution to rising textbook costs.  Instead of costing $150-$200 like traditional books, open textbooks are free to read online and to download, and students can purchase them in print for a small cost.  Over the last 3 years, we've mobilized hundreds of students to get the word out about open textbooks to professors.  We even set up a "catalog" listing information about the top examples of open textbooks.

Take a look at the Open Textbooks Faculty Statement, which more than 2,500 professors have signed to show their intent to consider using open textbooks whenever possible.

Exposing the problem.  Over the last seven years, we've conducted a series of studies that investigate and expose various elements of the problem with high textbook costs.  Our work has been covered by the media in all 50 states, and our research has formed the foundation for many initiatives to address the problem.  

Promoting used books.  We’ve helped tons of students save money with used books.  We organized on-campus book swaps that help students buy and sell their textbooks without middleman fees.

Check out this New York Times article with money saving tips from the Student PIRGs' expert on textbook affordability.

Establishing rental programs.  We found that students at schools with rental programs spend $130-$240 per year on textbooks, rather than $900.  We released a guide to setting up rentals, which spawned dozens of new efforts across the country.

Organizing professors.  Since professors choose which textbooks student buy, changes in their behavior can send a powerful message to publishers.  In 2005, we organized 700 math and physics professors to sign a letter asking a major publisher to stop issuing unnecessary new editions.  And after meeting with students from CALPIRG, the UCLA math department negotiated a 25% price cut on one of their books.

Head over to our action center to learn more about how you can help make textbooks affordable.