Congress may have an answer for college students tired of paying high prices for their textbooks each semester.
In March 2007, U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Norm Coleman, R-Minn., introduced the College Textbook Affordability Act, a bill that would regulate the college textbook market by forcing publishers to reveal wholesale prices of all textbook formats and editions to professors, and "unbundled" options without price-boosting extras like CDs and DVDs.
"This legislation helps students purchase more affordable textbooks by making sure they have complete information about course requirements and enabling them to purchase what they need without costly supplemental materials," Coleman said in a statement. "It will also help educators make informed choices about less costly textbook options."
Several states, including California, Arizona and Tennessee, are either in the process of passing similar legislation or have already done so. Legislators in North Carolina, for their part, have given the 16 institutions in the University of North Carolina system until January to either set up a textbook rental system or create a system to buy back the books of large entry-level classes.
Increasing tags at the register are being felt at Duke, too.
"[Textbook prices] seem to be spiraling out of control," said Bob Walker, general manager of book operations at Duke. "It used to be maybe one increase a year. Now, it seems to increase more than once a year for the same title. Unfortunately, it has to get passed on to the retail price."
According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on the price of textbooks, prices are increasing more rapidly than those of other U.S. goods.
"In the last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation," the report read. "Increasing at an average of 6 percent per year, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall inflation was 72 percent."
A 2006-2007 College Board survey found the average annual price of college textbooks at a four-year public school to be $942.
Though Duke does not offer a figure on the average cost of textbooks per student, the Office of Financial Aid budgets $1,050 for books per student each year, said Financial Aid Assistant Lisa McClain.
"What publishers tell us as an industry... is that it's all the technology components they've had to invest in," Walker said. "It's not just a book anymore."
Walker said though the bill is a step in the right direction, he is unsure if it will perform as expected. He added that if faculty members adopted a standard edition of textbooks for a set number of years, student book buybacks could be maximized.
"I don't think the act in itself is going to do a lot," he said. "But I think it will help. A lot of it too will be the same old things."
Charles Clotfelter, Z. Smith Reynolds professor of public policy studies and a specialist in higher education and education finance, said he also has reservations about the bill.
"Transparency and devices to unbundle would both be good," he said. "How much effect they'll have [on prices], I don't know."
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