Why are College Textbooks
so Expensive?

A report on College Textbooks completed in 2005 by the US Government Accountability Office uncovered a startling fact: The average price of college textbooks had increased at twice the rate of normal inflation for the previous twenty years! Over those same twenty years the cost of materials used to produce a textbook didn’t experience a similar increase, so what gives?

From my twenty plus years of experience in the textbook industry I’ll explain to you what has caused, continues to fuel, and could eventually extinguish the firestorm of price increases.

Capitalism Backfires

Before the big used book wholesalers like MBS Textbook Exchange (Barnes and Noble), Nebraska Book Company and Follett College Book Company came into existence, the end of term textbook buybacks didn’t exist. Nor were there any other outlets for students to sell their unwanted college textbooks. Students largely held on to their books and purchased brand new ones at the start of each new term. An opportunity to recycle unwanted textbooks and provide students a cheaper alternative spawned the used book industry.

Students now could sell their unwanted college textbooks and had opportunities to save money by purchasing used textbooks at discounted prices. This fueled high demand for used books and rapid growth for the used book industry. Publishers and authors don’t make any money from the sale of a used book, and they soon found they were loosing significant revenues and royalties. Much of the blame for the rapid price inflation over the years can be attributed to publishers compensating for these lost revenues.

If you examine the price structure of college textbooks, you’ll learn that prices for used books are directly proportional to the publisher’s starting price for a new publication. The college book industry has traditionally priced used books at a 25% discount to their new counterparts. As publishers have inflated prices for their texts, the price for a used copy has increased proportionally. Here’s where the real irony comes in: If college textbooks would have simply followed the normal rate of inflation for twenty years, a brand new text today could be sold for less than what a used copy currently goes for. Competition has actually caused higher prices, go figure!

How can capitalism fail this miserably in a free market? When someone holds the power to "require" you to make a purchase, you no longer have a free market. Let's further examine the partnership that holds the power in the industry and how their practices create even more upward price pressure:

Textbook Publisher Payola Marketing

Textbook Publishing Companies B.S.

Text Books, Conflicts of Interest and Revisions

Rites of Passage

How has this situation developed, and why is it allowed to continue? After all the college student has placed their trust in the university and its agents to educate them in a safe environment. Students should have no fear of being taken advantage of right? Maybe it’s just the tough love approach to economics. After all, the student did enroll to get an education.

The GAO report points out that the cost of college tuition has also kept pace with the high rate of inflation experienced by college textbooks. The publishing industry has been able to hide behind the same beliefs society has already been conditioned under: Like tuition, the cost of college textbooks is just another part of the entry fee for the entitlement a college degree brings. Here are a few of the beliefs that support the current system:

I had to take on debt in college because of the costs, now it's this generation's turn to compensate me.

So what if the student incurs a little debt, that’s the American way.

College students are young and resilient; they’ll recover from the debt, eventually.

This is the price you have to pay for the diploma and the higher wages you’ll earn because of it.

A college education is so coveted by our society that the participants in the textbook industry have been able to shake down the alleged "naïve" college student for more and more money.

Up to this point they’ve been able to get away with it.

The Tipping Point

The chicanery by all the players in the textbook industry may have worked in the past, but the escalation of prices has now forced students to become more savvy and prudent with their money. Students are now quickly learning that just because a textbook is listed as “required,” doesn’t mean it’s actually needed. Even if a book really is needed, students will completely balk at a $150.00 price tag for a new book. Who can blame them? If used copies aren’t available students will find an alternative or even go without the book. Resourceful students have found they can significantly reduce their textbook costs with a little planning and creativity, as you too will soon learn.

Change or be Regulated

Students have been voting with their dollars when they can, and when they can’t they’ve become vocal enough to attract the attention of legislators across the nation. Many states are now crafting new regulations to force the publishers and professors hand in an attempt to control the cost of college textbooks. Many bills are requiring that professors become aware of the final costs of their learning materials, and asking for justification prior to editing and revising a current edition.

Legislators are also recognizing the publisher’s attempt at B.S. (bundled stacks) to force the students into new college textbooks. Professors are being pressured to weigh the use and necessity of these additional supplements.

Twenty-first Century Solutions

Conscientious professors are beginning to respond to student protests and are using their notes and power point presentations to deliver the majority of the course content. Various electronic forms of learning and testing have supplanted traditional book and paper methods. These actions have diminished the role of the textbook in delivering course content. For many subjects the textbook has become nothing more than a supplement to other mediums.

In the short run publishers would be wise to focus on streamlining their traditional processes and seeking new and additional forms of income from their work. Instead of playing games to protect the old ways, publishers should entice students online and attempt to capitalize from their large audience with desirable study aids and other products.

In the long run, continuing to experiment with electronic forms of learning seems like the natural progression. Nothing currently on the market seems to be the perfect fit, and probably never will for anyone who began their education using printed books, pens and paper.

The day when the public school system can provide every new student a laptop or similar electronic device, will be the generation that revolutionizes this industry. Until that generation emerges, you should explore the alternatives the industry doesn't want you to know you have.

I hope I've given you a solid understanding of why prices are so high and why it's important for you to take control over the process. Now that you're motivated to take charge, let's first learn about what kind of consumer you are right now:

Consumer Scale

Note to Parents, please read this message before continuing on:

College Parents





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