Textbook Costs Stir Concern

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But unfortunately there are no teeth to those recommendations," says Ava Hegedus, national affordable textbooks coordinator for the student Public Interest Research Groups.

Connecticut legislation, however, has been a step in the right direction, says Hegedus. Publishers must now make pricing information and new-edition schedules available for professors at state universities. Many professors do not know—without conducting research—the price of textbooks when they choose materials for their classes.

PROFESSORS' BURDEN.

Some professors say they take book price into consideration when deciding on requirements. Sheila M. Puffer, an international business professor at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration, knows about the subject directly. Her son goes to MIT, and at the end of the spring semester, she went to the campus bookstore, tried to sell back five books, and only got money for one, receiving $25 for a $109 psychology book. The leftover books were either outdated editions or not being used the next semester.

When picking texts for her students, Puffer says she's very conscious of price. She doesn't assign optional books and tries to keep each class's requirement to a single book. She also says that sometimes supplemental information and extra online work can give students information overload. "I look for books that have everything I need," she says (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/25/06, "Sheila M. Puffer's Book Recommendations").

Professors also have the option to create custom books if they do not anticipate using an entire text's content, which happens often. "You can get chapters from other books. You can set your own price. Say you don't want it to be more than $50, you reduce pictures, chapters, and graphic display," says Hildebrand, of the Association of American Publishers.

CHEAP ALTERNATIVES.

In the meantime, there are several Web sites to get used books—including half.com and Textbookx.com—but those are of little help if a new edition comes out the semester you're buying. A new site, FreeloadPress.com, offers several free, downloadable B-school books. So far, about 130 courses are signed on from around the country to use texts on the site, and executives say it is set to expand. Authors are commissioned to write books specifically for the site, and a few major publishing companies have now signed on to contribute content.

Students can also come up with creative ways to save cash. Jason Turgeon, a senior at Northeastern who founded the free book site Textbookrevolution.org—which only posts material Turgeon has gotten permission to use or that is free to the public—only spent $35 last semester, as opposed to the $500 he would've spent if he bought new and used books. He borrowed from friends and professors, checked texts out of the library, and downloaded free ones from his Web site. "I'm going to be $85,000 in debt when I graduate. Every dollar counts," he says (see BusinessWeek.com, 6/29/06, "10 Ways To Manage Student Debt").

While the House committee decides what it can do to prevent costs from increasing too rapidly, undergraduates can rally their student governments to pressure college officials to create new rules or pressure faculty to purchase cheaper editions. Undergraduates can also find used books—if there's not a new edition required—online or in a campus bookstore and try to get free books from alternative sites. Or, if all else fails, students can remember that books are a part of the cost of college and fork over the dough in the name of learning.

Gordon is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York

Gordon is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in New York.