INFURIATING Scott G. McNealy has never been easier. Just bring up math textbooks. Mr. McNealy, the fiery co-founder and former chief executive of Sun Microsystems, shuns basic math textbooks as bloated monstrosities: their price keeps rising while the core information inside of them stays the same.
“Ten plus 10 has been 20 for a long time,” Mr. McNealy says.
Early this year, Oracle, the database software maker, acquired Sun for $7.4 billion, leaving Mr. McNealy without a job. He has since decided to aim his energy and some money at Curriki, an online hub for free textbooks and other course material that he spearheaded six years ago.
“We are spending $8 billion to $15 billion per year on textbooks” in the United States, Mr. McNealy says. “It seems to me we could put that all online for free.”
NEW FEDERAL LAW WILL CURB SKYROCKETING TEXTBOOK COSTS
Regulations open doors to lower cost alternatives for students, faculty
WASHINGTON - A groundbreaking federal law designed to tackle the rapidly rising cost of textbooks has kicked in just in time to impact college students this fall. The law, which was part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) passed by Congress in 2008, is considered the first major federal action on this issue.
“Today, the average college student spends between $800 and $1,200 on textbooks every year,” said U.S. Senator Dick Durbin who authored the original version of the law. “The Higher Education Act Reauthorization finally gave students access to the information and options they need to make educated decisions about managing their finances in school. My Open College Textbook Act would go further by using the potential of technology to further improve college access, learning and affordability for all students.”
Earlier today, Durbin joined student and faculty representatives on a conference call to explain the new regulations and how they will impact textbook costs. Overall, the consensus was that the law was a change for the better.
"This is a huge victory for students," said Rashi Mangalick, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and board chair of WISPIRG. "It will help us manage our costs now while also lowering prices in the long run."
The new law, which went into effect on July 1st, contains three main provisions:
1. Publishers must disclose textbook price and revision information to faculty during the marketing process. A study by the Student PIRGs found that such details were often left out; 77% of the professors surveyed said publishers rarely or never offered textbook prices unasked.
"Professors share students' concern about cost and generally would prefer to assign less expensive books," said Dr. D. Steven White, Professor of Marketing & International Business at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. "The new law empowers professors to readily identify lower-cost options that suit their instructional needs."
2. Publishers must offer unbundled versions of textbooks. "Bundling," or the practice of packing textbooks with CDs, pass-codes and other ancillaries that often go unused, can increase costs 10-50% according to PIRG research. From now on, students will have the option to purchase only the items they need.
3. Colleges must include the list of assigned textbooks during course registration. With advance notice, students can plan ahead for the full cost of their next term, and they have time to shop around for the best deals on their books.
"More cost saving options are available now than ever before. Students can save hundreds by shopping for discounts online, renting, and trading used books with other students," said Nicole Allen, Textbooks Advocate for the Student PIRGs. "The next step is to make sure textbooks are affordable in the first place."
Another theme that emerged was that open-source textbooks would play a prominent role in future efforts to reduce costs. Open textbooks are digital books that, unlike conventional e-books, are licensed to be free online and affordable to purchase in print. While currently available for a limited number of courses, budding efforts to create open textbooks - including publishing company Flat World Knowledge and Durbin's legislation - promise greater availability in coming years.
White is one of thousands of professors nationwide already exploring the use of open textbooks in college classrooms. This fall, he estimates that switching to open textbooks will save his 98 students approximately $11,000.
"Affordable, high-quality alternatives like open textbooks could mean serious competition for traditional publishers," noted Dr. White. "Especially now that professors know how much books cost."
Audio of the conference call will be available upon request.
# # #
The Student PIRGs is a national network of non-profit, non-partisan student advocacy groups that work on public interest issues pertaining to the environment, consumer protection and government reform
Textbook costs continue to increase. Many college bookstores have started textbook rental programs as one strategy to reduce the high cost of textbooks.
Here is some additional support if your college is interested in starting / expanding a textbook rental program.
=====================
The Department of Education today releaseda Notice Inviting Applications for anew pilot program to promote Course Material Rental. The objective of the $9.9 million program is to provide grants to higher education institutions for pilot programs that "expand the services of bookstores to provide the option for students to rent course materials in order to achieve savings for students." For further information, see the Federal Register.
·Estimated Available Funds: $9,900,000.
·Estimated Range of Awards: $900,000–$1,100,000 for the 24-month grant period.
·Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1,000,000 for the 24-month grant period.
·Estimated Number of Awards: 9–10.
=====================
Think what $1M could do at your College / District / Region!
·one idea: a College could buy 10,000 x $100 textbooks for its highest enrolled courses and make the books freely available to students
ostudents could use the textbooks for the quarter… at no cost
ostudents return the books at the end of the quarter
oCollege lends out the books out to students the following quarter
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges recently passed an open licensing policy:
“All digital software, educational resources and knowledge produced through competitive grants, offered through and/or managed by the SBCTC, will carry a Creative Commons Attribution License.”
Special thanks to the Southern Regional Education Board for their inspiring “An Expectation of Sharing” report.
