The high cost of a college education has gotten the attention of a congressman who wants to investigate the prices of textbooks.
Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) introduced a bill Nov. 20 to investigate the cost of books. The legislation is part of a push "to make college more affordable," according to Brian Branton, legislative director for Wu.
The House Committee on Education and Workforce would start debating the bill after Congress reconvenes in January, Branton said.
He said the bill has generated a lot of interest among fellow congressmen.
"We expect a large number of support," he said. "We have always been concerned in the affordability of college and realize it is more than tuition. It is also the textbooks."
Judith Platt, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Publishers, said, "It can cost upwards of $1 million to develop a textbook."
Platt said this is because textbooks can take years to develop and several people are involved in the process, such as authors and editors.
She said that booksellers set book prices based on how much it costs them to get the books.
The average student at a four-year private college will spend $843 on books and supplies this school year, according to the College Board's Web site.
Branton listed several cases of textbooks that are cheaper overseas than those sold in the United States.
For example, he said "The Principles of Microeconomics" is sold in the United States for $83.00, whereas in the United Kingdom, the same copy costs $45.13. "Differential Equations" sells for $112.15 if bought domestically, but only $48.47 in the U.K.
"This is nothing new," said Scott Deaton, senior vice president of marketing for Follett Higher Education Group, the chain of college bookstores that the AU Campus Store belongs to. "We've been seeing this [discrepancy] for the past 20 to 30 years."
Deaton did not comment on why textbooks cost more in the United States compared to overseas.
Platt said American college textbooks are in demand in other countries and sold for prices that are consistent with the markets in those countries.
However, Platt said that when publishers sell their books overseas, this allows prices to be lower for American students because the publishers can spread their profits among different countries.
"Nothing that the publishers are doing is either unusual or illegal or unethical," Platt said.
If passed, the legislation would require an investigation into the cost of producing a textbook, reasons for price discrepancies, whether the discrepancies are for different subjects, or just math books, and the extent of changes made in new editions.
The findings would have to be reported to the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education Labor and Pensions within a year of the bill passing.
While she was not familiar with the bill, Platt said, "There will hopefully be an investigation into the cost of developing books."
She said that the cost of revising books varies.
"This is a highly competitive industry, and every publisher operates differently," Platt said. "It depends on the publisher, it depends on the discipline, it depends on the extent of the revisions."
Students around the country are vehement about the cost of books.
"I think the rising cost is wholly ridiculous," Harvard sophomore Jennie Schiffman said.
AU freshman Tom Leiby agrees.
"The bookstore rips us off with their outrageous prices, which is why I'm buying my books elsewhere," he said. "I can get them so much cheaper online."
According to the publishers association's Web site, campus stores earn an average of a 22.4 percent profit margin on new textbooks. The retail sector overall earned profit margins ranging from 25 to 43 percent as of April, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
