Va. Assembly Passes Bill to Cut College Textbook Costs

A national study by Congress's Government Accountability Office published last summer found that book prices are rising faster than inflation or tuition. The study, which pinned rising prices to innovations in books and supplements, suggested that the cost to students is rarely considered when prices are set.

J. Bruce Hildebrand, higher education director for the Association of American Publishers, said there is a good reason textbook prices are rising: Responding to demand from professors, books have become vastly better than they once were. Now, many books come with an array of Web support sites, CDs with extra problem sets and tutorials, training for teachers, and extra reading and workbooks.

"What they're comparing is buggy whips to rockets, and they don't account for the changes in technology," he said. "We are constantly being pressured to develop tools to help professors prepare a diverse student body that is arriving in many classes not ready for college."

Those supplementary materials are the most upsetting part to many students. Professors often assign them as optional work, they say, but buying books without the extras is sometimes impossible.

Robert Andrews, an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and past president of the Faculty Senate of Virginia, said that although some professors do not look at prices or what comes in the bundles they have ordered, most know what they have asked students to buy.

"When you clearly articulate that you're going to use the textbook, students still try to get by and not buy it," he said.

He said he is bothered that the bill would encourage teachers not to use new editions. That could give professors an excuse to stick with texts because they are comfortable with them instead of moving to better, newer books.

"I don't think books are that expensive," Andrews said. "Is this an issue that strikes a chord with students? Yes. . . . At the same time, look at the cost and look at the quality of the textbooks. I still think we get value for our money."

Dale Van Wagner, 22, president of the student body at George Mason University, acknowledges that he stopped visiting the campus bookstore two years ago. Instead, he waits as long as possible to see whether a book will be useful and then searches online for the lowest price. Wagner, who is putting himself through school, said his costs dropped a lot.

"I just don't understand how $400 a semester for books should be considered an appropriate additional cost for an education you're already paying for," he said.