The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 18, 2005, Page A4, Image 4
Textbook cost increase higher than rate ofU.S. inflation
Skyrocketing book
prices hit student
pocketbooks hard
IDatt Williams
(U. COLORADO) COLORADO DAILY
BOWLDER, COLO. — University
of Colorado-Boulder students who
feel they are plunging deeper into
their bank accounts for school
textbooks might be right.
A report released Tuesday from
the U.S. Government
Accountability Office found the
price of textbooks increased 6
percent on average each year over
the last two decades — twice the
rate of U.S. inflation.
The report estimates a student
at a four-year institution like CU
Boulder paid $898 for textbooks
during the 2003-2004 academic
year.
“I’m really happy that the report
confirms what we already know at
CoPIRG, which is that textbook
prices are definitely a significant
cost to college students, and that
the prices of textbooks have been
skyrocketing over the last few
years,” said Cory Nabler, the CU
Denver campus organizer for the
Colorado Public Interest Research
Group.
CU students flocked to the CU
Book Store on Tuesday to get an
early jump on buying materials for
the fall semester.
Students said they don’t need a
new report to tell them textbooks
are pricey.
“It was really expensive,
especially coming from high school
where you could just borrow
books,” said CU freshman Melissa
Lehman, as she toted around a bag
ofbooks.
CU senior Randy Egan said he
spent $550 one semester for math
and science books.
“In a way, being an engineering
student is more expensive because
they tell you not to sell your books
back,” Egan said. “You’re supposed
to have them there on your shelf
for reference.”
College textbook prices nearly
tripled from 1986 to 2004, the
GAO report concluded. But
during the same span, tuition and
fees rose even higher — 240
percent, according to the report.
The GAO report said textbooks
are increasingly bundled with
supplemental materials such as
workbooks and CD-ROMs,
accounting for much of the cost
increases.
Publishers are also releasing new
editions of textbooks more
frequently, every three or four years
instead of the five-year cycle
common a decade ago, according
to the GAO.
Nabler calls the bundled extras
and new editions “gimmicks.”
Patricia Schroeder, president
and chief executive officer of the
Association of American
Publishers, said the textbook
industry is meeting the “ever
evolving needs” of students and
faculty by bundling extra materials
with textbooks.
Schroeder said the association
endorses the GAO’s findings,
though it contests how much
students are really paying for
books.
“Our key concern with GAO’s
report is that they relied on data
that do not reflect the true cost of
books to students,” Schroeder said
I ""
in a statement Tuesday. “Two
independendy derived estimates
— based on actual sales data from
the National Association of
College Stores (NACS) and the
Association of American Publishers
— confirmed that the average, full
time equivalent student actually
spends about $580 per year on
textbooks, far less than the $898
figure used repeatedly in GAOs
report.”
The GAO figure is inaccurate
because it combines textbook costs
and school supplies, she said.
NACS, a trade group of 3,100 w
college store members, estimates
students spent a combined $6.5
billion on textbooks and course
materials in 2003.
The College Board estimates an
average student spent $843 for
books in 2003-2004.
A National Retail Federation
study estimates students will spend
$8.8 billion on textbooks in 2004.
Incoming CU-Boulder
freshman Jake Margolis said
whether he pays $600 a year or
$900 a year, it’s too much.
Interested in writing for the
THiS&AMECOCK ?
Come to interest meetings Monday, Aug. 22 at 7:30p.m. in RH
322/326and Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 in RH315
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