SIVACRACY.NET: Ripoff 101

From today's Chronicle for Higher Education:

�Textbook Publishers Overcharge American Students, Consumer Group Says in New Report� By THOMAS BARTLETT

Textbook publishers issue new editions when none are needed, "bundle" books with unnecessary supplementary material, and charge American students more than they charge students overseas for the same books, according to a report issued Tuesday by the State Public Interest Research Groups. The report, "Ripoff 101," is a follow-up to a report of the same name issued in 2004 that led to a Congressional hearing on textbook pricing last summer (The Chronicle, July 21, 2004). In the new report, the student division of the environmental and consumer- advocacy group charges that publishers often issue new editions of books that are nearly identical to older editions. The report calls on publishers to issue new editions "only when educationally necessary."

The Association of American Publishers countered that the report is based on flawed methodology and that new editions of textbooks are necessary to keep up with the latest information. The trade group pointed to a recent study, conducted by the Zogby polling organization for the association, that it says undermines the "Ripoff 101" report. David Rosenfeld, program director of the student division of the State Public Interest Research Groups, disagreed with that assessment of the Zogby study. "It's kind of like a Seinfeld study -- it's a study about nothing," Mr. Rosenfeld said. "The only thing it reveals is that they have no answer to our study and they have to fabricate something."

Not so, said Bruce Hildebrand, a spokesman for the publishers' association. He said the Zogby study showed that, among other things, professors were in favor of the supplementary materials included with many textbooks. "The profs do like it, they do want it, they do use it," Mr. Hildebrand said. "We provide what we're asked to provide to meet the needs of the students."

"Ripoff 101" is available on the student-advocacy group's Web site.

A report on the Zogby study, "The Attitudes of College Faculty on the Textbooks Used in Their Courses," is available on the publishing group's Web site.