the exorbitant price of textbooks is of particular concern because it has a disproportionate impact on students of lesser financial means. The average cost of textbooks and supplies has risen to about $1,200 per student per year, according to College Board. The only silver lining is the rising cost of textbooks has finally spurred new policy proposals and technological innovations to attack the issue. While I understand the practical realities of financing our educational system, the excesses of a bloated publishing industry have pushed the costs of textbooks into ridiculous territory. Thanks to their monopoly position, the big publishers bundle products with textbooks similar to the cable companies, creating ancillary items of questionable value on instructors and students — thereby driving up the costs. Congress, apparently, does not. Recently, we’ve seen both legislative chambers get into the business of textbook reform with two pieces of legislation – the Learning Opportunities With Creation of Open Source Textbooks (LOW COST) Act in the House of Representatives and the Affordable College Textbook Act in the Senate.
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Open source would be a huge impact to Follett even their INCLUDED program. The government will soon realize that it must set financial aid free and allow the students to use it anywhere, that is most effective to them.
Student tells me he purchased book on Amazon for $3 that is $58 in my store.