NYPIRG to measure effectiveness of law to lower textbook costs
A public interest group is collecting data on how much students are spending on textbooks at Syracuse University bookstores.
In light of a recently passed law aimed at lowering textbook costs, the New York Public Interest Research Group, which advocates for affordable and accessible higher education, will be collecting data from students Friday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the grassy area between Schine Student Center and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
The law is part of the Higher Education Opportunity Act and took effect in July. It requires publishers to disclose book prices, differences between subsequent editions and the existence of alternative, cheaper formats to faculty, according to a textbook fact sheet published by NYPIRG on Aug. 15.
Additionally, CD-ROMs, DVDs, workbooks and other bundled extras must also be sold separately, so students are not forced to buy items not assigned by their professors.
Students who attend NYPIRG’s event will have their pictures taken holding written cards with their name, year and how much they spent on textbooks this semester. The pictures and data NYPIRG collects will be complied into a YouTube video and sent to New York senators.
Alejandro Fernandez-Lovo, project coordinator for the local chapter of NYPIRG, said the plan for the event is to compare this year’s research findings with last year’s and to see if students have saved money on books as a result of the law.
‘The main problem with the textbooks is that publishers are coming out with a new edition every year, and when students try to return their books at the end of the semester, the bookstores say, ‘Sorry we can’t accept this because the new edition is coming out next year,” Fernandez-Lovo said.
In addition to the constantly updated editions of the textbooks, publishers try to make a profit by adding extra materials to textbook bundles, such as Web codes, CD-ROMs, DVDs and workbooks, Fernandez-Lovo said.
Professors are often unaware of these extra learning tools, so they are not incorporated in the syllabi and go unused, he said. And once the shrink wrap is broken on the bundled books, they cannot be returned, and the student ends up wasting money.
Fernandez-Lovo said changes have been made in the past year, and many professors have done their parts to lower textbook costs.
Amanda Furcall, a junior conservation biology major at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, worked on the textbook research last year. She said while NYPIRG has not completed the research for this year yet, she thinks the new laws and money-saving options have definitely been beneficial to students.
‘Most of the teachers are very aware of this problem and are doing what they can to help reduce costs,’ Furcall said.
While some students like to buy their books online, Josh Lynn, a sophomore biology major, said he isn’t doing a lot to try and save money on his textbooks because he doesn’t see a real difference between the on-campus bookstore and online options.
‘The convenience of the bookstore is worth the extra three or four bucks,’ Lynn said. ‘My organic chemistry teacher made us buy the binder version of the textbook, which is a lot cheaper, and it was bundled with a CD-ROM, which we have to use for our homework and stuff like that.’
Hailey Steer, a sophomore accounting major, said she prepares to buy her books over the summer with the earnings from her summer job, and if it is unnecessary to buy a book, she shares with someone else. The bundled books from the bookstore are often useless to her.
‘I would want to use the extra stuff, but then I don’t because the teachers don’t require me to, and I feel like it is just extra money that we’re paying,’ Steer said.
Along with the new legislation, Fernandez-Lovo said colleges now show the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) on all assigned textbooks and online course schedules. This is so students know exactly what they are purchasing, and they have the correct information for the assigned textbooks.
Since last year, the on-campus bookstores at SU have implemented new money-saving options, such as rentable books, eliminating bundled books and overall lower prices, Fernandez-Lovo said.
All 20 chapters of NYPIRG are participating in the textbook research collection during the months of August and September and hope to have the research compiled by mid-September or early October, Fernandez-Lovo said. Other chapters of NYPIRG are conducting research through surveys, interviewing students and examining bundled books in bookstores.
Fernandez-Lovo said he and the rest of the NYPIRG members hope to have a large turnout with their textbook data collection event Friday and can continue to make an impact on students and the textbook costs.
Published on September 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm
