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The Daily OrangeNew act to cut college textbook prices
Publishers required to tell professors about updates and revisions
By Nicole Loring
Posted: 2/14/08, 12:25 AM EST Section: News
Chad Brooker has a few suggestions on how students can save hundreds of dollars on textbooks.
Brooker, a Syracuse University senior political science, policy studies and economics major, said students can buy and sell books online, shop at Follett's Orange Bookstore instead of the university bookstore and buy "no-frills" simply collated textbooks when they are available from the publishers.
But as of last Thursday, it might be even easier for students to save where it counts. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, or HR 4137, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill orders textbook publishers to tell professors what changes have been made to textbooks from one edition to the next, so professors can choose whether to assign a newer, more expensive edition of a textbook especially if there were only few changes made from prior versions, said Brooker, executive committee member of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
"The best part about this bill is that it will give students options," said Christine Elliott, project coordinator of NYPIRG.
NYPIRG has committed itself to the issue of high textbook prices. The student-led group called Congressman Jim Walsh asking him to support the House version of the bill, which included the clause about lowering textbook prices, Elliott said.
If a textbook is bundled with CD ROMs and workbooks, the new bill will require publishers to also sell the textbook without the additional materials as a cheaper option to students, Brooker said.
Other provisions of HR 4137 include providing cost and information resources to prospective college students, changing the Pell grant maximum -need-based grants to low-income undergraduate from the government - and stopping student loan providers from making business arrangements that can be detrimental to students, according to GovTrack.us.
The House bill will be passed to the Senate where it will be voted on, but the Senate could have its own version of the bill being considered, which wouldn't necessarily include the textbook clause, according to GovTrack.us.
Brooker, a Syracuse University senior political science, policy studies and economics major, said students can buy and sell books online, shop at Follett's Orange Bookstore instead of the university bookstore and buy "no-frills" simply collated textbooks when they are available from the publishers.
But as of last Thursday, it might be even easier for students to save where it counts. The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, or HR 4137, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill orders textbook publishers to tell professors what changes have been made to textbooks from one edition to the next, so professors can choose whether to assign a newer, more expensive edition of a textbook especially if there were only few changes made from prior versions, said Brooker, executive committee member of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
"The best part about this bill is that it will give students options," said Christine Elliott, project coordinator of NYPIRG.
NYPIRG has committed itself to the issue of high textbook prices. The student-led group called Congressman Jim Walsh asking him to support the House version of the bill, which included the clause about lowering textbook prices, Elliott said.
If a textbook is bundled with CD ROMs and workbooks, the new bill will require publishers to also sell the textbook without the additional materials as a cheaper option to students, Brooker said.
Other provisions of HR 4137 include providing cost and information resources to prospective college students, changing the Pell grant maximum -need-based grants to low-income undergraduate from the government - and stopping student loan providers from making business arrangements that can be detrimental to students, according to GovTrack.us.
The House bill will be passed to the Senate where it will be voted on, but the Senate could have its own version of the bill being considered, which wouldn't necessarily include the textbook clause, according to GovTrack.us.
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