With textbook prices rising, some University of Wisconsin students are looking at more affordable options.
A study released Monday by UW looks at what has been done to alleviate textbook prices and what can be done to keep them affordable — including supplying more copies in UW-Madison libraries, online exchange forums and textbook swaps on campus.
The Textbook Costs Task Force was created after the UW System Board of Regents decided to further investigate textbook prices and was comprised of students, faculty and administrators, according to Aaron Brower, UW-Madison vice provost for teaching and learning, who was also the committee chair.
"In May, the Board of Regents passes a resolution where they essentially wanted to get reports from each of the System institutions to have them summarize what they are doing and what they hope to do on textbook costs," Brower said.
The Board of Regents will review the committee reports at the monthly meeting Thursday and will take it into consideration when deciding on future textbook policies, Brower said.
He added textbook prices are often an issue for incoming college freshmen.
"I think that textbook costs are a fraction of the total cost to go to school, but it's not insignificant, particularly if students are not anticipating the costs … and if they haven't planned for it, then it can become a problem," Brower said.
The report indicated a full-time student taking introductory classes at UW typically spends approximately $700 on textbooks throughout the year and that UW is in a unique situation because it does not have a university-run bookstore, unlike other UW System schools.
Associated Students of Madison Academic Affairs Committee Chair Jessica Pavlic, who was also on the Textbook Costs Task Force, said, "It's not any secret textbook cost is a huge issue on our campus."
"What we did in this committee was try and think of other ways that the libraries can help with the textbook problem, ways that professors can help with the textbook problems, ways just the administration — the Dean of Students Office — can help with the textbook costs," Pavlic said.
Pavlic said she discussed the possibility of using electronic textbooks, or e-texts, that would alleviate the minor changes various textbook editions often have.
"Obviously, students don't want to sit in front of a computer and read their entire book, but we thought it'd be an easier way for professors to highlight what is important and then students be able to print out the important pages," Pavlic said. "You're not having to physically issue new books year, after year … and it's easier to change little things here and there than reprint the entire book."
Informing professors about the textbook situation will also help solve the problem, Pavlic said, because if students are aware of what books they need early enough they can look for the lowest prices.
Pavlic added she hopes the Board of Regents will use the information to make textbook prices more reasonable for all UW System students.
"What we're hoping is that the Board of Regents look over it, looks at our suggestions, takes it to heart and actually tries to do something with it — change it," Pavlic said.
According to UW, a resource called Course Guide will be released in the fall through My UW that will provide students with course information — including required textbooks.
