2008 Woodie Awards
Higher Education Act to ease students' textbook woes
Adam Ziegler
Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: News
editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series on the Higher Education Act, a multipart piece of legislation renewed by the U.S. House in February.
While tuition costs have dominated many discussions on the rising price of attending college, increasing textbook prices have largely been ignored.
However, a provision in the renewed Higher Education Act is placing new focus on book prices by putting new regulations on textbook publishers to make buying books less of a burden on students.
The Higher Education Act, first passed in 1965 to improve educational resources and make college more affordable, was renewed by the U.S. House of Representatives in February.
The provision would require universities to publish lists of required textbooks and their IBSN numbers in course announcement notices and make book publishers give professors a list of the changes made to new editions and an estimation of how long the book will remain in use.
Textbook prices have become outrageously high and are a major worry for students, said Rachel Racusen, the spokeswoman for Rep. George Miller, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Racusen said by renewing the Higher Education Act, Congress hopes to ease students' concerns about the cost of their books.
"Our legislation would help make textbook prices more manageable for students," Racusen said.
Knowing which books they'll need before classes start gives students the chance to compare prices and find the cheapest place to buy books, said Oren Milgram, director of student affairs for StudentMarket.com, a Web site that sells dorm furniture and features a free textbook price comparison service.
"It gives them the chance to shop around versus being in the very uncomfortable position of going to class and needing the book the next day," Milgram said.
Some publishers already voluntarily tell professors about the changes between book editions, Milgram said, but in most cases professors have no way of knowing how different two editions are unless they read both books and record the differences.
"It's not practical to request professors compare line by line what the revisions are," Milgram said.
Some in the higher education community have questioned whether frequent book revisions and the price increases that come with them are necessary, Milgram said, and knowing the differences between editions will allow professors to make better informed decisions about whether they should use new edition books.
"They can ask does it warrant a whole new book and a price increase?" Milgram said
The main benefit of the Higher Education Act's textbook provisions is increasing competition in the book market. Milgram said, and increased competition will give students more time and better options when deciding where to buy their books.
"We want students to make informed decisions and making informed decisions means having time to decide," Milgram said.
adamziegler@dailynebraskan
While tuition costs have dominated many discussions on the rising price of attending college, increasing textbook prices have largely been ignored.
However, a provision in the renewed Higher Education Act is placing new focus on book prices by putting new regulations on textbook publishers to make buying books less of a burden on students.
The Higher Education Act, first passed in 1965 to improve educational resources and make college more affordable, was renewed by the U.S. House of Representatives in February.
The provision would require universities to publish lists of required textbooks and their IBSN numbers in course announcement notices and make book publishers give professors a list of the changes made to new editions and an estimation of how long the book will remain in use.
Textbook prices have become outrageously high and are a major worry for students, said Rachel Racusen, the spokeswoman for Rep. George Miller, who is the chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. Racusen said by renewing the Higher Education Act, Congress hopes to ease students' concerns about the cost of their books.
"Our legislation would help make textbook prices more manageable for students," Racusen said.
Knowing which books they'll need before classes start gives students the chance to compare prices and find the cheapest place to buy books, said Oren Milgram, director of student affairs for StudentMarket.com, a Web site that sells dorm furniture and features a free textbook price comparison service.
"It gives them the chance to shop around versus being in the very uncomfortable position of going to class and needing the book the next day," Milgram said.
Some publishers already voluntarily tell professors about the changes between book editions, Milgram said, but in most cases professors have no way of knowing how different two editions are unless they read both books and record the differences.
"It's not practical to request professors compare line by line what the revisions are," Milgram said.
Some in the higher education community have questioned whether frequent book revisions and the price increases that come with them are necessary, Milgram said, and knowing the differences between editions will allow professors to make better informed decisions about whether they should use new edition books.
"They can ask does it warrant a whole new book and a price increase?" Milgram said
The main benefit of the Higher Education Act's textbook provisions is increasing competition in the book market. Milgram said, and increased competition will give students more time and better options when deciding where to buy their books.
"We want students to make informed decisions and making informed decisions means having time to decide," Milgram said.
adamziegler@dailynebraskan
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