Textbook economics: Colleges fight high prices

Until this year, University of Minnesota students taking BioC-3021, a biochemistry class, paid $148 for a single, one-semester textbook.

Then professors got smart.

The faculty agreed on five biochemistry books that would work and, for the first time, asked publishers for bids. They'd take the book that came in the lowest, they said.

As a result, students now have a different textbook -- for $86.

Campuses across the state are taking new, aggressive action to curb textbook prices, a cost often overshadowed by climbing tuition but still likely to add to student debt.

After recent federal and local laws targeted textbook prices -- estimated at $900 a year per student by a government report -- schools started testing book rental programs, bookstores expanded their online texts and professors signed pledges to do what they could.

"It's definitely on everyone's radar now," said Bob Crabb, director of the University of Minnesota Bookstores, which has upped its collection of electronic books and created its first rental program.

According to a study by the federal Government Accountability Office, textbook costs rose 186 percent between 1986 and 2004, while overall inflation sent prices up 72 percent over the same period. More recently, colleges reported that textbook costs increased about 19 percent over three years, from 2004 to 2007, according to a survey by the College Board. Students at two-year colleges generally spent less per year on textbooks than those at four-year schools, the same report found.

Professors have power

This fall, using $500,000 from the Legislature, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system began pilot projects to cut textbook costs on six of its 32 campuses.

Minnesota State University, Mankato applied its $5,000 toward increasing the number of pricey textbooks on reserve at the library. Vermilion Community College in Ely got $60,000 to expand a textbook leasing program for all general education courses, such as writing.

But professors are seen as key to keeping prices down.

At the U, the Minnesota Student Association endorsed a textbook affordability campaign this month that asks professors to sign a pledge.

The campaign -- designed by the student-led Minnesota Public Interest Research Group -- asks professors to consider cost when choosing texts, to publish materials online and to tell students if older editions are acceptable.

"The goal ... is to start affecting departments' actual purchasing policy," said Ryan Kennedy, chair of the University of Minnesota's Student Senate and an MPIRG leader. "That's the long-lasting, systemic change we're looking for."

So far though, the U faculty who took bids on that biochemistry book are in the minority, said Paul Siliciano, associate professor of biology. Professors often choose textbooks or switch to new editions without ever asking the price.

When his department requested a bid from the publisher of the old book, which it had used for some time, its reps were "stunned," Siliciano said.

"We had been telling them for a couple of years that, 'We really need to do something about the price,' " he said. "But all they ever did about the price was raise it."

Although it's a lot of work to switch texts -- and professors might not agree that the cheapest one is the best -- the department is using the same technique for other high-enrollment classes.

"Especially at Minnesota, where we're so big, even a small course might be a huge account," Siliciano said. "We haven't flexed our muscle."

E-books are 'where future is'

Electronic textbooks are likely to be MnSCU's next pilot projects, said Todd Digby, system director of libraries.

Winona State University, which provides laptops to all its students, has proposed using an online textbook for a psychology course -- then comparing students' results and reactions with those taking the same course with print materials.

Crabb believes that e-books are "where the future is," he said. "That's the way it will go for a pretty substantial number of books."

Electronic books are generally about half the cost of their print siblings. But several students and professors said that's not cheap enough, especially if students print a lot of pages.

Michelle Hesterberg, a sophomore at Carleton College, noticed that one of her textbooks for the coming trimester is available as an e-book. But she won't buy it.

"I still really like having that paper copy," she said.

Besides, "students can't re-sell an electronic version," Digby said.

Resale is a big part of how colleges try to make textbooks affordable. Like other campus bookstores, the University of Minnesota Bookstores pays students 50 percent of a textbook's new price if it's required for class next semester.

So a student who buys a used book for 75 percent of its $100 price and gets 50 percent back at the end of the semester will have spent $25. But the bookstore pays 50 percent on only about a third of the books it buys back, Crabb guessed. With older editions, bookstores make little money selling them back to a wholesaler, he said.

At fall semester's end, Jake Weisberg followed the signs through the U's Coffman Memorial Union: "This way to turn your textbooks into cash," they said, depicting a woman up to her eyes in dollar bills.

But after selling eight books, which he had bought for more than $200, the junior pocketed just $15 and a couple quarters.

"It's kind of depressing," Weisberg said. "One, a paperback, was a $20 book. I barely opened it. We only read like two chapters. And then they bought it back for $2."

Lawmakers demand changes

Although publishers argue they must make frequent new editions to remain current, they will soon be required to defend themselves.

Congress passed legislation requiring them to release more information about their prices, among other things, by 2010.

By 2009, Minnesota law will require publishers to give out "a summary of revisions between current and previous editions." It includes goals like those expressed by MPIRG's faculty pledge.

The student group will try to expand its reach by approaching professors at several private colleges this spring, including Hamline University, Macalester College and Carleton College.

"Yes, there is legislation on a national level, but it will take time to implement," Kennedy said. "In the meantime, students are taking steps of their own."

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168