Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid Offers Solutions to College Affordability Problem
Press Release
Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid Offers Solutions to College Affordability Problem
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) pointed to a study released today by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance which offered a set of solutions to increasing college textbooks costs. Some of the Advisory Committee's recommendations mirror a proposal introduced earlier this year by Durbin to deal with the high cost of college texts, namely providing price and purchasing information to students. In 2006,Congressmen David Wu and Howard McKeon requested a year-long study into the factors contributing to rising textbook prices and recommendations for making textbooks more affordable. The Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance is a federal advisory committee chartered by Congress to provide advice to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. The Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 ensures that the advice that the committees provide to the Executive Branch is both objective and accessible to the public. "The average college student spends nearly $900 on textbooks every year and the cost of textbooks has been climbing at twice the rate of inflation," said Durbin. "Previous studies have confirmed factors that contribute to the rising costs of textbooks. Today's report takes another step in the right direction by offering a set of solutions to the affordability crisis. I commend the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance for recognizing the importance of providing key information to students and parents. It is time to give them the information and options they need to make educated decisions about managing their finances in school." On March 20, 2007, Senator Durbin introduced the College Textbook Affordability Act designed to ensure that college textbooks and supplemental materials are more available and affordable for college students. The legislation will help students manage costs by requiring publishers to provide certain information to faculty and requiring colleges that receive federal assistance to provide parents and students with more access to information by printing the price of textbooks and supplementary materials in the course schedules. The Advisory Committee's report notes that providing key information to students and parents is an "essential component of making textbooks affordable". According to the report, two steps can be taken to ensure that information is readily available. First, information on the cost of textbooks and alternative purchasing methods can be sent early to parents and students for budgeting purposes. Second, textbook lists and the International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) should be posted online prior to the start of the term. Both recommendations are covered in Durbin's bill. Additionally, Durbin's College
Textbook Affordability Act:
# Requires publishers to include the price of textbooks and supplemental material when providing information to faculty as well as the history of revisions and whether the textbook and supplemental material are available in a potentially lower-priced alternative format
# Requires publishers who bundle course material to offer the textbooks and supplemental material in unbundled versions
# Requires colleges receiving federal assistance to include the ISBN and retail price of textbooks and supplemental materials in the course schedule
# Requires schools, when asked, to provide bookstores with access to the course schedule, ISBN numbers of course material, and the maximum and current course enrollment numbers
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