Faculty members all over the United States are supporting an effort to fight high textbook prices. Nearly 1,000 college and university faculty have signed a statement of intent to utilize free, open-source textbooks that are available online whenever it is feasible to do so.
The professors' statement is part of the work being done by the Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) to reduce the high price students pay for class materials.
In 2005 the Government Accountability Office released a report stating that textbook prices nearly tripled from 1986 to 2004 - a rate far higher than that of inflation. The GAO report blamed supplemental materials like CD-roms, which often come package with textbooks today, for the increase.
Additionally the GAO determined that textbooks account for about one-fourth of the cost of tuition and fees at four-year public institutions.
The Student PIRGs are trying to motivate Congress to take action on the issue. Currently the House of Representatives has a bill in conference committee called the Higher Education Reauthorization Act which would require textbook publishers to release the price, the history of revisions and information about any available lower-cost formats.
The bill would also mandate that textbooks bundled with other materials must also be offered separately and that schools provide a list of required textbooks in registration materials so that students have plenty of time to seek cheaper options.
