Zoey Jordan Salsbury

Communication, Copyright and Culture

Professor Sinnreich

December 13, 2017

Textbook Tab Trauma

Textbooks are incredibly expensive and a major part of the increased costs associated

with attending college. For some students, the choices they are left with are dire – either pay

for food and struggle in a class with a required text or buy the textbook and push through

hunger (Read, 2015). Survey data shows that 65 percent of students have at some point

decided not to buy a textbook because of cost and, of those students, 94 percent worried it

would negatively impact their grade (Bidwell, 2014). That means students pursuing higher

education knowingly hamper their chances at academic success due to financial concerns.

Estimates range on how much exactly full-time undergraduates spend annually on

textbooks, with public and private schools seeing major differences, as well as two year versus

four year institutions. However, there are some average numbers available. The College Board

estimates that full-time students spend anywhere from $1,220 to $1,420 on books and supplies

annually (The College Board, n.d.). The National Association of College Stores (NACS) estimates

that students spent an average of $579 during the 2016-2017 academic year on required course

materials, and that that number is down $23 from the previous school year (National

Association of College Stores, 2017). (It is worth noting however, that NACS has a vested

interest in looking like students get a fair deal on textbooks, as they are a leading seller.)

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Textbook prices have risen at a rate which outpaces tuition and fees by over 20 percent (Carrns,

2016).

Another factor contributing to the rising cost of college textbooks are digital access

codes, often only available with the purchase of a physical textbook. These codes give students

access to online materials “like digital books, study guides, homework assignments, quizzes and

tests” which they cannot go without if they wish to pass the class (Carrns, 2016). Approximately

one third of college courses require these codes, which average $126 (Carrns, 2016).

College students are pushing back against these high prices, with 34% reporting that in

the spring of 2013 they “downloaded course content from an unauthorized website” which was

a 14% increase from 2010 (Schick & Marklein, 2013). Many also reported copying or scanning

sections of textbooks from their classmates.

As a solution, the Affordable College Textbook Act has been introduced in both the

Senate and the House of Representatives. It was introduced as S. 1864: Affordable College

Textbook Act, by Illinois Senior Senator, Richard Durbin, a Democrat, on September 26, 2017. It

had been previously introduced in the senate in the last two classes. A virtually identical bill was

introduced on the same day in the House of Representatives by Representative Jared Polis, a

Democrat who represents Colorado’s 2nd congressional district.

The goal of the bill was to reduce the cost of textbooks and, in turn, reduce the barriers

to students seeking a higher education. The bill cited the College Board estimate for books and

supplies at a 4-year public institution, $1250, and Government Accountability Office findings

that between 2002 and 20012 textbook prices increased 82 percent, as leading reasons for its

creation (Polis & Sinema, 2017).

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 The key mechanism of the bill is the creation of a grant program to create open

textbooks. Open textbooks are “textbooks that are available under an open license, allowing

professors, students, researchers, and others to freely access the materials” and redistribute

and edit them (“Durbin, Franken, King, Polis, Sinema Introduce Bicameral Legislation To Help

Make College Textbooks More Affordable,” 2017). The bill also included steps to ensure the

caliber of the textbooks produced was high quality and that the books were made in

coordination with leading experts in the field. Finally, the bill changed existing legislation to

require publishers make all educational materials, like digital access codes, available separately

from the physical textbooks instead of just in bundles.

The bill has not progressed much since it was introduced, despite support from many

relevant interest groups including the Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition,

National Education Association, and National Association of College Stores (Mickey, 2017). The

last is particularly notable as campus stores have a vested interest in textbook pricing as it

continues to make up a significant portion of their income.

Despite much outside support, the bill was referred to committee in both the House of

Representatives and the Senate, and neither body has voted it out of committee. The Senate

bill has only Democratic and Independent co-sponsors (the Independent co-sponsor typically

caucuses with the Democrats) which could be pointed to as a reason for its failure to advance.

The House of Representatives bill does have one Republican co-sponsor, Representative Carlos

Curbelo, FL-26, who often works with Representative Sinema on bipartisan legislation.

However, it has still not progressed out of committee in the House of Representatives.

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 In addition to the minimal bipartisan support, another reason the bill has struggled is it

does not contain a specific amount to appropriate for the grants to make new open textbooks.

The text of the bill simply says, “There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this

section such sums as are necessary for each of the 5 fiscal years succeeding the fiscal year

during which this Act is enacted.” (Polis & Sinema, 2017) For those concerned about

government spending, particularly Republicans who are already not very involved with this bill,

the lack of clarity provided about the cost of such a program is a major roadblock (which is kind

of hypocritical given their tax bill, but I digress).

However, the main reason this bill has not had more success, despite being

reintroduced year after year is, you guessed it, special interests! Open educational resources

are particularly threatening to publishers. While the Association of American Publishers says

that they are not inherently opposed to open education resources they do vocally oppose using

taxpayer funds to develop and subsidize these resources (Mickey, 2017). David Anderson, the

executive director for Higher Education at the Association of American Publishers says of the

proposed bill “Government should not place its thumb on the scales of the marketplace to

favor one group over another. Unfortunately, this proposed legislation does just that.” (Mickey,

2017)

While the Association of American Publishers is not the most powerful lobbying group

on Capitol Hill, nor are they the biggest campaign donors, they do have significant sway. In 2016

the Association of American Publishers spent $680,000 on lobbying, which is typical of their

annual spending since 2008 (OpenSecrets, 2017). However, in their busiest lobbying year on

record, 1998, they spent $3,280,000 so they have the funds needed to make a very large fuss if

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they deem an issue a threat to their members profitability (OpenSecrets, 2017). In addition, in

the 2016 election cycle, their PAC donated to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Although

the amount was relatively minimal, $1,500, it shows that they do keep a cordial relationship

with the Democratic party leader which could indicate why even Democrats have been wary to

sign on as co-sponsors for the bill.

In the end, there isn’t one clear reason this bill has failed, there are many. A lack of

bipartisan cooperation plays a role, especially when Republicans control the committees the bill

must pass through. The vague budget required by the bill’s core grant program turns off fiscal

conservatives. And lastly, the knowledge that the Association of American Publishers has the

money to spend over three million dollars on lobbying in one year, if they find an issue

concerning, scares potential co-sponsors away.

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 Works Cited

Bidwell, A. (2014, January 28). Report: High Textbook Prices Have College Students Struggling |

US News. US News & World Report. Retrieved from

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/28/report-high-textbook-prices-have-

college-students-struggling

Carrns, A. (2016, September 23). A New Cost at College: Digital Access Codes. The New York

Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/your-money/a-new-cost-

at-college-digital-access-codes.html

Durbin, Franken, King, Polis, Sinema Introduce Bicameral Legislation To Help Make College

Textbooks More Affordable. (2017, September 26). Retrieved December 14, 2017, from

https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-franken-king-polis-

sinema-introduce-bicameral-legislation-to-help-make-college-textbooks-more-

affordable

Mickey, K. (2017, September 29). The Affordable College Textbook Act is Reintroduced.

Retrieved December 14, 2017, from

https://www.simbainformation.com/Content/Blog/2017/09/29/The-Affordable-

Textbook-Act-is-Reintroduced-

National Association of College Stores. (2017). Highlights from Student Watch Attitudes &

Behaviors toward Course Materials 2016-17 Report. Retrieved from

http://www.nacs.org/research/studentwatchfindings.aspx

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OpenSecrets. (2017, October 21). Lobbying Spending Database - Association of American

Publishers, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017, from

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000044662

Polis, J., & Sinema, K. H.R. 3840: Affordable College Textbook Act (2017). Retrieved from

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr3840/text/ih

Read, R. (2015, February 12). College textbook prices soar, hurting students burdened by

tuition, debt. The Oregonian. Retrieved from

http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2015/02/post_23.html

Schick, D., & Marklein, M. B. (2013, August 20). College students say no to costly textbooks. USA

TODAY. Retrieved from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/20/students-say-no-to-costly-

textbooks/2664741/

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