Textbook publisher Thomson Learning has agreed to come out with a new line of textbooks that will cost 25 percent less than previous editions, according to Travis Bird, a member of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group.
The new line was introduced after the California Public Interest Research Group launched affordable textbook campaigns and reports. The price cut is in response to an executive summary titled, “RIP-OFF 101: Publishers Increase Prices through Gimmicks.” The report targeted publishers as contributing to the growing expense of college textbooks.
CALPIRG and WISPIRG are both student groups at state universities that have similar goals in improving student and environmental standards. Both share similar research ideas and methods.
“Other companies will look at Thomson Learning and understand what students and professors are demanding,” Bird said.
Like many other textbook publishers, Thomson Learning places new editions on the market each year. Thomson’s well known calculus book, for example, sold for $130 in 2003, while the 1999 edition sold for anywhere between $20 and $90. Small cosmetic changes were added to the new edition but were hardly noticeable to professors and students, Bird said.
According to the CALPIRG summary, “A new textbook costs $102.44 on average, 58 percent more expensive then the price of an average used textbook, $64.80.”
WISPIRG has followed up these recent advances by contacting numerous departments on the UW campus and working with professors. In addition, WISPIRG is striving to create new means of buying and selling books on campus, such as the Book Swap program.
“Book Swap is a an exchange program in which students can sell their books at elevated prices and buy them back for less money,” Bird said.
The chemistry department has agreed to utilize used textbooks next year instead of signing with the publishing company to purchase a new edition, according to WISPIRG member Angela Biscardi.
UW Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Paul Barrows is working with the Associated Students of Madison and university committees to further this purpose. These groups are looking to other institutions to find a way to “defray costs of text books and related materials,” Barrows said. They are also looking into book-rental operations and other means for purchasing textbooks.
During his 10-year tenure as owner of the Underground Bookstore, Troy Gerkey has seen students’ distress over increased textbook prices. He said increases in these prices causes worry that high book prices will drive students away.
“To spend $150 on one textbook to only read six pages is completely absurd. Students throw away thousands of dollars when we could simply buy used books for half the price or have a system of books on reserve,” UW sophomore Carly Walowitz said.
WISPIRG hopes to continue tackling this issue throughout the spring semester. They plan to stifle the emergence of new editions and keep them off the market. The campaign will also investigate the possibility of online purchasing or online textbook accessibility.
The group’s ultimate goal is to have publishers disclose a textbook pricing policy and fact sheet to departments and faculty across the country, according to Bird.
On a national level, members of Congress in Washington, D.C., are enacting legislation to stop publishers from increasing textbook costs.
