Report calls for more relief from costly textbooks

A new report finds that US students will continue to struggle with the costs of textbooks unless those costs are lowered, despite recent initiatives taken to do so. The report, released by US consumer group U.S. PIRG, reveals that 65% of students say they had decided against buying a textbook because it was too expensive, and that 95% of those students are concerned that this decision will impact their grade. Nearly half of students also reported that the cost of textbooks influences how many/which classes they took each semester. The report concludes that more should be done to lower the costs of textbooks for students, including adopting open textbooks. The authors also suggest publishers should develop new business models that can produce high-quality books without imposing excessive prices on students. U.S. PIRG News Release | Full Report