Such criticism has prompted Congress to take action. On Feb. 7, the House of Representatives passed the College Opportunity and Affordability Act in an effort to control prices.
The bill has three major provisions. First, publishers will be required to disclose the wholesale price and major content revisions to faculty. Second, they will also have to unbundle supplementary material from textbooks. Finally, colleges will need to list required and recommended books in course catalogs so students know the cost up front and have time to shop for better prices.
The bill, however, has its skeptics. Publishers argue these new requirements will only drive up their costs and make textbooks more expensive.
Colleges are also worried about driving up costs. In addition, the National Association for College Stores points out that many schools publish course catalogs before faculty pick their textbooks, thus making it infeasible to list required materials.
Tom McKenna, BC Bookstore Director, echoed these sentiments. "I don't believe that legislation designed to place additional requirements on publishers will bring down textbook prices. If I had to guess, I'd say the publishers would pass along any new costs required by any legislation right on to their customers."
There are also concerns that lists would deter students from taking nursing and science courses because of high textbook costs. "I get the best of both worlds," said Kristina Cotter, a bio-chemistry major and A&S '11. "Each of my science books is $150, if not more."
Cotter's biology book was particularly expensive because the Bookstore only had new copies. She said she would not switch majors because of textbook costs, however. "Next year I'll probably just look online," she said.
McKenna said the BC Bookstore sets its prices based on an industry standard.
The wholesale price it gets from publishers is nonnegotiable, so it has little control over prices. Some college bookstores now add an additional freight charge for textbook bundles, but BC does not.
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