[A2k] GOVERNMENT REPORT CONFIRMS COLLEGE TEXTBOOK BURDEN, OFFERS SMART PACKAGE OF SOLUTIONS

[Dave Rosenfeld]

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
Hello all,

Below is our news release about today's new government report on textbook
prices.  It links to our analysis of the report, which is quite strong
overall.  Interested in hearing your own reactions.



Dave Rosenfeld



NEWS RELEASE



GOVERNMENT REPORT CONFIRMS COLLEGE TEXTBOOK BURDEN, OFFERS SMART PACKAGE OF
SOLUTIONS

Solutions Include: Stronger Used Book Market, Lower Cost Textbooks,
"National Digital Marketplace"



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2007

CONTACT: Dave Rosenfeld, The Student PIRGs, daver@studentpirgs.org, o.
503.231.4181 x311, c. 310.210.8410



Today, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (ACSFA)
released their report
<http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html>  to
Congress on solutions to the problem of skyrocketing college textbook
prices. The study was requested last year by Congressmen David Wu (D-OR) and
Buck McKeon (R-CA), part of a follow up to the 2005 Government
<http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-806>  Accountability
Office study that confirmed much of the Make
<http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/newsroom.asp?id2=14221>  Textbooks
Affordable campaign's research on the problem.



"The report confirms the burden of textbook prices on students and offers a
smart package of solutions that can introduce real competition into the
publishing industry and free students from the stranglehold that traditional
publishers have on the market," said Dave Rosenfeld, the Student PIRGs'
National Program Director, "In particular, we urge faculty, colleges and
policymakers to do everything in their power to hasten the development and
adoption of openly-licensed learning content."



Full <http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/newsroom.asp?id2=33124>
analysis of the report here.  Items of particular note include:

*         Confirmation that textbook prices ""represent a significant
barrier to access and persistence."

*         A clear analysis of the market which correctly recognizes the
disproportionate amount of power that publishers have in the market, and the
need to restructure the market so that it is "student-centric".

*         A large basket of effective, "short-term solutions" to the
problem, such as Washington
<http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2300>  and Connecticut
<http://www.cga.ct.gov/2006/ACT/PA/2006PA-00103-R00HB-05527-PA.htm> 's
policies requiring greater price transparency among publishers, the
<http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/CSU_academic_senate.pdf>  California
State University Academic Senate's purchasing guidelines, and the used
<http://bookstore.collegeofsanmateo.edu/SiteText.aspx?id=309>  textbook
initiative at Mateo County Community College District Bookstores..

*         There are many 21st Century Technologies - such as those housed at
Rice University Press <http://ricepress.rice.edu/index.html>  and Connexions
<http://cnx.org/>  - that are dramatically less expensive and more flexible
than traditionally licensed books.

*         A call to create of a national "digital marketplace" where all
content - commercial and non-commercial - can compete against each other on
one platform.



Although the report's overall conclusions are very strong, the Make
Textbooks Affordable Project had some criticisms of the report.  For
example, the report should have made clearer that E-books" are much less
ideal than other "21st century" alternatives.  In some cases, "E-books" are
actually more expensive than even traditional hardbound books once the
buyback value of a book is factored in.  Read more
<http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/newsroom.asp?id2=33124>  in the
report analysis.



###







**********************

David Rosenfeld

National Program Director

The Student PIRGs

daver@studentpirgs.org

o. 503.231.4181 x311

c. 310.210.8410

www.StudentPIRGs.org





--