Students Lobby Bill to Lower Textbook Costs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2007

Contact:
Nicole Allen, WashPIRG
203 216 7112, nicole@washpirgstudents.org
 
STUDENTS LOBBY BILL TO LOWER TEXTBOOK COSTS
Press Release

SEATTLE – Washington students may find that they are paying less for their textbooks next year if the state Legislature passes a bill requiring publishers to disclose textbook prices to faculty.  The bill, sponsored by Representative Bob Hasegawa (D-11) and Senator Derek Kilmer (D-26), was worked through legislative committees by students of WashPIRG and the Associated Students of the University of Washington. The bill would give faculty the information they need to choose the lowest cost versions of the course materials they require.

This effort was prompted by a new study released by WashPIRG that shows that textbook prices are rising four times the rate of inflation.  “Many students are already really struggling to pay their way through college,” said Ben Wong with WashPIRG. “The last thing they need is to shell out hundreds of dollars more each year to buy textbooks.  We need to let the publishers know that students won’t continue to pay for their unfair business practices.”

WashPIRG cites the finding by partner MASSPIRG that publishers do not always provide clear information about their prices to faculty as one cause for the artificially high textbook prices.  An astounding 77% of professors MASSPIRG surveyed said that when they meet with publishers’ sales representatives, they rarely or never volunteer the price.  Even when professors directly asked for the price, only 38% of those surveyed said the sales representative would always disclose the price.

According to WashPIRG, students pay an average of $900 for textbooks per year.  Prices are largely dependent on which books instructors choose to require, and MASSPIRG found that 94% of the faculty surveyed reported that they would take cost into consideration when choosing their textbooks.  The survey also found that but many of those professors did not actually know the price of the books they assign.

“That shows that something is going wrong, and that is why we are fixing it,” added Wong.

According to University of Washington Book Store’s CEO, Bryan Pearce, “University Book Store is always looking for opportunities to save our students money on course materials.  This legislation would provide information critical to the course book selection process, enabling faculty members to make more informed decisions that will help reduce the cost of course books to students without compromising the integrity of their course content."

This bill, SB 6077 and companion bill HB 2300 have moved surprisingly quickly through the legislature.  The Senate Higher Education Committee passed SB 6077 last Thursday, and the House Higher Education Committee passed HB 2300 Tuesday night.  A floor vote both chambers is forthcoming.

“We need to keep the pressure on the legislature so that they will pass it this session,” said Nick Myette with WashPIRG who organized students to call their legislators on Wednesday.  “We can’t wait another year.”

According to WashPIRG, there are many tactics that publishers use to drive up prices, and withholding prices is just one.  A bill passed in Washington last year addressed some of those concerns by requiring bookstores to sell “bundled” course materials like extra CD’s separately.

“Obviously the solutions to the problem are long term” concluded Bryce McKibben, the Student Lobbyist for ASUW. “However, the proposed legislation is a very important step forward. This measure will be beneficial to faculty and students immediately and shines some light on information that should be openly available.”