Supplements raise textbook prices

An iClips AP item today announces the release of a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), College Textbooks: Enhanced Offerings Appear to Drive Recent Price Increases. The U.S. government endeavors to make higher education accessible and affordable, primarily by providing financial aid. Since nearly half the college population receives federal financial aid, escalating costs of postsecondary education, including textbooks, can impact access, affordability, and federal spending.

The GAO found that, in the last two decades, college textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation, close behind tuition increases. While many factors affect textbook pricing, the primary one appears to be the increasing investment publishers are making in supplements such as Web sites, CD-ROMs, and others with technology content. With the advent of the Internet, institutions have invested heavily in technology and expect faculty to utilize that technology. Publishers are providing more curricular support for instructors because of the reduction in full-time tenure-track faculty across the country. While these materials are free to instructors, their cost is built into the price of textbooks. One publisher has invested $1 million in developing a CD-ROM that provides 3-D images to enhance learning anatomy.

College Textbooks: Enhanced Offerings
   Full report, PDF, 8M, 51p. from GAO
   Highlights, PDF, 68K, 1p. from GAO
   Abstract, HTML