Textbook Case of Runaway Prices

Jolene Mitchell can understand the statewide budget crunch that has set her college tuition bills soaring, but the skyrocketing cost of textbooks is something that both baffles and angers her.

Mitchell, a third-year microbiology student at UCLA, says she typically spends $1,000 a year on books -- that’s about 15% of what she spends on her education. And many of the books are bundled with expensive CDs, workbooks and websites that she says she never uses. When Mitchell goes to sell back the books, she can get creamed because there’s a good chance that a new edition of her text is out, which sharply reduces the resale value of the previous edition.

“You talk to almost any student and they will tell you that they are spending a lot on books,” she says. “I had this calculus book last year that cost $130. I used it for two quarters, and when I went to sell it back it was worth $2.38 because I had the fourth edition and a fifth edition had come out. It’s really getting to be a problem.”

Indeed, the rising cost of college textbooks is becoming a hot-button issue among legislators and consumer groups, who maintain that book prices are rising far more rapidly than they should. Textbook prices, which have risen nearly 70% in the last decade, were discussed in recent congressional hearings and are the subject of a continuing study by the U.S. General Accounting Office.

No national legislation has been proposed, but California legislators have introduced two bills that address the issue. One encourages textbook rental services, and the other urges publishers to unbundle their books so that students can buy them without all the expensive extras.

The California Student Public Interest Research Group, a student-run division of consumer group CalPIRG, is organizing student protests against a variety of alleged abuses -- including bundling and putting out new editions that change little but the page numbers -- that are driving the cost of textbooks into the stratosphere.

Textbook publishers say they are being used as scapegoats.

Pricing is an issue that CalPIRG has “manufactured” and appears to be using as a recruitment tool, says Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for higher education at the Assn. of American Publishers.

Textbook costs have risen, Hildebrand acknowledges, but the cost is largely dictated by the mandates of the professors who order the books, he says.

“We are publishers and we sell books. But we’re like auto manufacturers in that if you want your car in black, you get black. If you want fancy hubcaps, we’ll give you that,” he says. “We are highly flexible. The books and materials are chosen by the professor.”

Hildebrand cites one case in point: A social studies text published by one of his group’s members has an edition that wholesales for more than $80 and one that wholesales for about $25. It’s largely the same book, but one is hard-bound and published on high-quality paper and includes more graphics, so it’s considerably more costly. The professor chooses which book to assign and order for the campus bookstore, he says. The bookstore will boost the price by an average of 33% to cover its expenses and profit, he notes.

Mitchell realizes that professors are part of the problem and says some are becoming more sensitive to the prices of the books they assign. But others continue to require expensive texts, bundled with costly extras, and simply expect students to foot the bill, she says.

Still, cost-conscious students can save money on books in a variety of ways, says Merriah Fairchild, a higher education advocate with CalPIRG. Her top tips:

* Buy overseas. American publishers often sell texts in overseas markets at considerably lower prices than they do here, she says. For instance, a popular calculus book that sells here for $125 costs $97 in Canada and $65 in Britain.

Students can buy the British version at www.amazon.com/uk, Fairchild notes. Hildebrand cautions that students should make sure it’s the same book, however, because some overseas editions are missing some of the graphics and charts that are included in books sold in the U.S. market.

* Use a book swap. Students can buy and sell from one another at online sites including www.campusbookswap.com.

* Use a buying service. Steve Loyola, president of BestBookBuys.com, says students can save 30% or more off retail prices on used books by shopping online. Loyola’s service sorts by price and can calculate the cost of shipping and sales tax when students include their ZIP Code in the search. The catch: Students can’t wait until the last minute, because it can take a week or longer to ship the books -- particularly if the seller is overseas.

* Hit the library. Mitchell says she now asks just how much of the text she will need to read before buying the book. If it’s just a few chapters, she will borrow the book from the library rather than buy it.

* Ask about the previous edition. In some cases, students can use an earlier edition of the book -- bought cheaply used -- because it’s not substantially different from the current edition, Fairchild says. However, students should ask their professors first to make sure that the book’s revisions were not substantial.

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Kathy M. Kristof, author of “Investing 101” and “Taming the Tuition Tiger,” welcomes your comments and suggestions but regrets that she cannot respond individually to letters or phone calls. Write to Personal Finance, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail kathy.kristof @latimes.com.