Congress questions sky-high costs of college textbooks

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 26, 2004 by Peggy Orchowski

While the panel didn't reach a consensus as to what the government should do about textbook costs, Virgil Monroe, the manager of Textbook Services at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, offered a potential solution--a textbook rental service.

"Students pay a $59 rental fee per semester to check out all the texts they need--an average of seven books per student," he said. "At the end of the semester, students can return the books undamaged with no extra charge, or they can purchase them or any other book at a discount of 20 to 40 percent off. Such a system is expensive to establish, but once it is in place, it is self-supporting."

As a result of escalating costs, students and teachers are getting information through other means, according to the panelists, including: books on CDs; printable electronic books; resource material picked by professors that are online or in bound "class material" books; Web books available for a small fee; and clipped notes from all faculty lectures, required readings and test samples.

Anna Lafferty, a professor of graphics and visual education at California's Santa Barbara Community College, said students are increasingly turning to these alternatives.

"Increasingly, because of duplication and digital delivery technology, community college students can get through whole semesters without buying a single book," she said. "But then, of course, they often feel they have to buy their own computer which costs more than the books."