http://calpirg.org/CA.asp?id2=11987&id3=CA&
With student and faculty complaints about the price of college textbooks
on the rise, the California Student Public Interest Research Group
(CALPIRG), the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG)
and the OSPIRG Foundation conducted a survey of the most widely assigned
textbooks in the fall of 2003 at 10 public colleges and universities in
California and Oregon. Student volunteers and staff also interviewed 156
faculty and 521 students about the cost of textbooks and their
purchasing practices. Key findings from this survey include:
*) Textbooks are Expensive and Getting Even More Expensive
*) Textbook Publishers Add Bells and Whistles that Drive Up the Price of
Textbooks; Most Faculty Do Not Use These Materials
*) Textbook Publishers Put New Editions on the Market Frequently, Often
With Very Few Content Changes, Making the Less Expensive, Used Textbooks
Obsolete and Unavailable
*) Faculty and Students Support Alternatives That Lower Students’ Costs,
Maintain Quality
*) Online Textbooks Hold Promise for Dramatically Lowering the Cost of
Textbooks
Full report:
http://calpirg.org/reports/textbookripoff.pdf (PDF, 83 KB, 26p.)
Wouter