Published: May 22, 2009 09:23 pm      

Not in Kentucky — 05/26/09.

Other states trying to control the osts of college books

From a new study by the Southern Regional Education Board (SERB), we learn that a number of states in the southeast have taken steps to control an often overlooked, but rapidly increasing, cost of receiving a college education: The price of textbooks. Unfortunately, Kentucky is not one of those states.

It should be. While students and parents often forget to include buying textbooks when calculating the cost of a college education, the SERB study found that the average student now spends more than $1,000 on books each academic year.

Used textbooks typically cost 25 percent less than new textbooks — if students can find them. But since publishers do not profit from the sale of used books, the West Virginia Statewide Task Force of Textbook Affordability found that publishers frequently revise textbooks — often making only relatively minor changes — in order to force students to buy the latest edition of the book. That also makes it virtually impossible for students who have completed the course to sell their textbooks they no longer need.

Publishers of college textbooks know a cash cow when they see one. By constantly revising their books and selling them to a captive audience — students who sign up for the courses — the money keeps rolling in.

But some states are at least trying to curb the cost of textbooks. Oklahoma requires bookstores to provide textbook cost information to faculty members and staff, who must then consider the least costly options when considering requiring materials for courses. Oklahoma and Tennessee require on-campus bookstores to provide unbundled materials whenever possible, separating textbooks that are often sold with CDs or other related materials, some of which course instructors never use.

Six southeastern states — Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — require that students have access to lists of textbooks distinctive from optional materials. That prevents students from buying materials they will never use.

Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Virginia and West Virginia have approved legislation banning faculty and staff from receiving pay from publishers for using their materials in their courses. Earlier this year, legislation was approved in Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina mandating colleges adopt policies to reduce textbook costs.

As far as we know, textbook costs have never been discussed in the Kentucky General Assembly. They should be. After all, paying $500 or more for books for one semester is just one more financial obstacle to earning a college degree. Kentucky should follow the lead of other states in trying to curb those costs.