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