Come the revolution, publishers of textbooks for higher education should be the first bastards lined up against the execution wall.
Fortunately, new federal requirements force schools to disclose prices of required texts before class registration and to sell course materials separately--allowing use of second-hand texts.
(Second-hand texts typically are bought new for $100, sold back for $20 and resold for $80.)
But that won’t stop publishers from “revising” texts, rearranging chapters to create “new” editions and render older volumes obsolete.
Tuition and fees cost plenty these days, but texts represent 25 per cent of university and four-year college expenses (including room and board) and 72 per cent of total costs at community colleges.
That’s $898 and $886, respectively--price rises twice the rate of inflation during the past 20 years.
Ready, aim, fire. (24 AUGUST 2008)
