Virginia's Textbook Study Could Prompt New State Laws
1/13/06

Virginia lawmakers now have the information they need to possibly draft legislation that addresses textbook pricing and purchasing issues at the state's public colleges and universities. The State Council on Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has returned the findings of a 10-month study requested by the Virginia General Assembly.

Lawmakers in other states also have been waiting to review SCHEV's study—A Report on Textbook Purchasing Practices and Cost in the Commonwealth—as many states have been studying and grappling with complaints about rising higher education costs and stagnant financial aid.

Many of SCHEV's findings are similar to those reported by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in August. SCHEV concluded that the cost of textbooks is rising; most college bookstores are taking proactive steps to reduce costs; and neither students nor bookstores viewed course materials as long-term investments.

As mandated by the General Assembly, SCHEV surveyed public and private college students in Virginia regarding the costs of textbooks each semester, analyzed textbook purchasing policies, and reviewed measures to reduce textbook costs to students and their parents that were being considered or had been implemented by Virginia or other states. SCHEV also held a stakeholders meeting in which NACS was asked to participate along with representatives for students, faculty, publishers, and lease companies. Representing college stores were NACS Director of Government Relations Rich Hershman, and Virginia Tech University Bookstore managers Donald Williams, executive director, and David Wilson, academic division manager.

The SCHEV report makes several recommendations to bookstores, publishers, faculty, and legislators that could help reduce textbook costs. Among the recommendations:

Bookstore managers should continuously encourage faculty to order textbooks early, at least 10-12 weeks before the start of each semester.

Faculty should ensure that most, if not all, supplemental materials in a bundle are necessary; and bookstores should offer some books unbundled so students have a choice.

In spite of new textbook editions on average every three to four years, faculty and bookstores should work together and try to use texts longer, especially in subjects where the presentation may change, but the content rarely does (math, literature, and history, for example). Faculty and bookstores should employ practices that maximize used book sales.

Legislators should consider state tax credits for students and their parents to help with higher education costs.

Publishers could send desk copies of textbooks to campus libraries for reserves.

SCHEV's report also highlights several institutions and outlines their best practices for lowering textbook costs. For example, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Mary Washington both encourage timely textbook adoptions by awarding a textbook scholarship to the academic department with the most on-time adoptions. The department then awards the scholarship to the student of their choice. At the University of Virginia's College at Wise, some students can stretch out payments on their textbook purchases over the semester instead of paying a large amount at one time. Other cost-saving programs also are mentioned in the SCHEV report. They include used book and rental programs, digital textbook subscriptions, student textbook swaps, and custom textbooks.

To compile its report, SCHEV conducted two surveys—one of 12,650 students (3% of all Virginia college students), and the other of bookstore managers—and reviewed textbook purchasing practices of Virginia's public colleges and universities and those popular at institutions outside the state. SCHEV also reviewed national trends, as well as legislation on the horizon in textbook purchasing.

Other findings in the SCHEV report:

Virginia college students pay on average between $300-$400 a semester for books and other course materials. The number of students who paid more than $500 a semester increased about 8% between spring 2005 and fall 2005. The GAO reported that college students nationally spend about $450 a semester on textbooks and supplies.

Seventy-seven percent of students purchased their course materials at the campus bookstore, while 8% used local, off-campus stores. Fifteen percent of respondents purchased their books online. Amazon.com was the most popular online seller, with 7% of students saying they used that service.

Students who indicated that they purchased their course materials online spent less than students who stated that they purchased their textbooks at the campus bookstore.

More than 40% of students said they had passed on buying at least one textbook because they couldn't afford it. Of the students surveyed, 20% could not afford to buy a book at least once, and another 22% said they couldn't afford a book more than once.

A total of 48 college bookstores were contacted for the study. The store response rate was 72%.

The majority of public college and university bookstores in Virginia are outsourced. Of the public two-year institutions, 73% are outsourced; of the public four-year institutions, 67% are outsourced.

NACS has prepared talking points on the SCHEV report for college stores that may be contacted by campus or other media. To access the talking points, go to www.nacs.org/members/secure/talking_points_virginia.pdf.

To read the entire SCHEV report, go to www.schev.edu/Reportstats/2006TextbookStudy.pdf.

To read the GAO report, go to www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-806.

—Yalinda Moore

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Virginia's Textbook Study Could Prompt New State Laws 1/13/06

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Virginia's Textbook Study Could Prompt New State Laws
1/13/06

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