Mark's Notebook

Swelling Textbook Costs

Washington Post

By Susan Kinzie, Washington Post Staff Writer

Textbook prices have been rising at double the rate of inflation for the past two decades, according to a Government Accountability Office study.

Students at four-year schools spent, on average, about $900 for books and supplies in 2003-04, more than a quarter of the cost of tuition and fees. At community colleges, the GAO study found, the books amounted to almost three-quarters of the cost.

Because many undergraduates get federal financial aid, the overall cost of college is a concern to Congress, which sought the study.

Textbook prices almost tripled from 1986 to 2004, the GAO report found. And publishers revise texts more quickly than they used to, limiting the used-book market.

Students have plenty of conspiracy theories for the rising prices: Greedy publishers who change the cover just to charge more. Self-absorbed professors who assign their own masterpieces or forget to list the books till it's too late to find a used copy. Overpriced stores.

"Where college stores come into play, a lot of students automatically perceive a rip-off," Libertowski said. But stores' profit margin is far lower for textbooks, she said, than for all those sweatshirts and mugs, and it has been steady for years.

A few schools have even tried renting out books for the semester. Bills in Congress would provide grants to some schools to launch rental plans and make as much as $1,000 of textbook costs tax deductible.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/22/AR2006012201290.
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Last updated Monday 3 August 2009