Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 4/4/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Editor's note: The following letter is in response to "Durbin tackles textbook costs" by Jessie Kallman, which appeared in the March 26 issue of the WC.
The recent column, "Durbin tackles textbook costs" (March 26) failed to provide a complete view of publishers and textbook costs and options.
Textbook costs account for an average of less than 5% of direct higher education costs. Publishers, sympathetic to students' concerns about the cost of textbooks, provide a variety of low-cost options from which faculty can choose, including split editions, electronic books, black-and-white editions, custom books and abbreviated editions. These alternatives and a new and expanding range of technologies are helping more students pass their courses, stay in school and graduate sooner, saving students time and money while improving their success rates. According to the independent research service Student Monitor, the average college student spent $644 on textbooks during the 2005 - 2006 academic year, a cost that has remained generally steady for the past three years.
Contrary to your article, the average length of time between editions is four years, a number that has remained constant for the last 10 years. Eighty percent of college instructors say it is important that the material in texts used for their courses be as current as possible, according to a Zogby International survey. And, information on the changes between editions is available in the preface of textbooks and, for the most part, online.
As the cost of higher education continues to escalate, the focus of America's publishers continues to be on helping students get the most out of their tuition dollar by responding to changing learning needs. In fact, today's college textbooks may be among the best long-term investments a student can make.
- Stacy Scarazzo Skelly
Asst. Director for Higher Education
Association of American Publishers
The recent column, "Durbin tackles textbook costs" (March 26) failed to provide a complete view of publishers and textbook costs and options.
Textbook costs account for an average of less than 5% of direct higher education costs. Publishers, sympathetic to students' concerns about the cost of textbooks, provide a variety of low-cost options from which faculty can choose, including split editions, electronic books, black-and-white editions, custom books and abbreviated editions. These alternatives and a new and expanding range of technologies are helping more students pass their courses, stay in school and graduate sooner, saving students time and money while improving their success rates. According to the independent research service Student Monitor, the average college student spent $644 on textbooks during the 2005 - 2006 academic year, a cost that has remained generally steady for the past three years.
Contrary to your article, the average length of time between editions is four years, a number that has remained constant for the last 10 years. Eighty percent of college instructors say it is important that the material in texts used for their courses be as current as possible, according to a Zogby International survey. And, information on the changes between editions is available in the preface of textbooks and, for the most part, online.
As the cost of higher education continues to escalate, the focus of America's publishers continues to be on helping students get the most out of their tuition dollar by responding to changing learning needs. In fact, today's college textbooks may be among the best long-term investments a student can make.
- Stacy Scarazzo Skelly
Asst. Director for Higher Education
Association of American Publishers
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Stephanie Scace
posted 4/04/07 @ 8:23 AM CST
Baloney! Try again. I just went back to my financial records for last year and my books cost $1,088 for 2006. Besides that, I had to buy Blue Books for exams, a $100 calculator for graphing, and one book had to be bought from Quick Prints for $34. (Continued…)
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