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Textbook Affordability Provisions in HEOA

The HEOA, short for the Higher Education Opportunity Act, is a higher education reform bill passed by Congress in 2008.  Among the many provisions in HEOA was a set of important regulations to help make textbooks affordable, which went into effect July 1, 2010 .  We put together this website to help explain what the new laws say, how they can reduce costs, and how they will affect you.

Click to visit the following pages:

• Analysis of provisions (or download as PDF)
• Full text of H.R. 4137 Sec. 112
• What does it mean for you?
• More information
• Fact sheet (download as PDF)

Click here to read more about our efforts to pass the textbook affordability provisions in HEOA.

Summary of Provisions

Here is a quick summary of the three main textbook affordability provisions in HEOA:

1. Price disclosure.  Publishers are required to disclose prices and revision information when marketing textbooks to professors.  This law helps counteract the "broken market" at the root of high textbook prices by providing all of the information professors need to identify and consider lower cost options.

2. Unbundling.  Ever bought a textbook packaged with a CD or passcode you never used?  Thanks to HEOA, publishers now are required to offer all of the items in textbook bundles for sale separately.  This gives students freedom to buy what they need and not what they don't.

3. Textbook lists.  The new law also asks colleges to provide the list of assigned textbooks for each course (including ISBNs and prices) during registration.  That way, students can plan ahead for the expense, and they have more time to shop around for the best deals.