My name is Saffron Zomer and I am the program director with
the Massachusetts Student Public Interest Research Group. MASS Student PIRG is a non-profit,
non-partisan consumer advocacy organization with chapters at colleges and
universities across the state. I am here
today to testify in favor of the Act Relative to the Production and Pricing of
College Textbooks (HB1200) filed by Representative Steven Walsh.
Today’s college students are under enormous financial pressure. The gap between tuition and fees and financial aid leaves
many students working long hours through college, struggling to make ends meet,
and graduating with large debts. The high cost of textbooks is yet another
financial burden. The cost of textbooks is not just a drop in the bucket of
tuition and fees; the average student spends about $900 per year on textbooks,
which is about 30% of tuition and fees at a community college in Massachusetts. Moreover,
textbook prices are rising at about four times the rate of inflation.
Last Fall, MASSPIRG conducted a survey of 287
professors from a variety of disciplines at Massachusetts colleges and universities to
get their views on textbook industry practices that drive up prices. We
identified three main areas of concern:
1. Publishers are not adequately
disclosing price information to the faculty, who do care about the cost to
students and want better information.
Faculty research and identify textbooks for their
classes through two primary means: publishers’ sales representatives and the
Internet.
Of the professors who told us that they regularly
use publishers’ websites to research textbooks:
- only 23% rated the site
they use as ‘informative and easy to use’
- less than half said
that the site typically lists the price of the book
Professors who primarily use non-publisher
websites, such as Amazon.com, report higher satisfaction:
- 61% rated the site
they use as ‘informative and easy to use’
- 77% told us that the
site usually lists the price of the book
For professors who meet with sales representatives
to research textbooks:
- 77% told us that
sales representatives rarely or never volunteer the price
- And even when professors
directly asked for the price during a sales meeting, only 38% reported
that the sales representative would always disclose the price.
2. Publishers need to provide unbundled
alternatives to bundled textbooks and disclose the availability of these
alternatives.
Bundling refers to the practice of shrink-wrapping a textbook with additional
materials such as CDs, pass-codes, or workbooks.
Only 50% of the professors who told us that they
assigned a bundled book last semester said that they used the additional
materials often. One-third said that they either could not assign the book they chose
without the bundle or did not know if that option was available. This finding stands in contrast to the
claims of many in the publishing industry that most of their books are
available unbundled.
House Bill 1200 would take an important first step
towards protecting students and faculty from the unfair business practices
which drive up the price of textbooks, by ensuring that faculty have the
information and options that they need to make optimal decisions on behalf of
the students they teach. This can only lead to better outcomes and lower costs
in the long term. I am enclosing with my testimony a collection of ‘horror
stories from students around the state to give you a sample of the types of
problems that textbook prices are causing to students from all walks of life.
I hope you will pass this bill favorably from your
committee. Thank you for your time and consideration, and as always, look
forward to working with you on these important issues.
