See / Judge / ActCatholic Social Teaching

Deepa Patel

Deann Nargentino

Albert Wingfai Wong

Sal Candela

Roman Povcher

Eric (Man) Wong

SEE

SEE

Overpriced

Textbook

Worst element of being a college student

Average college student

• will register for at least 5 classes/semester• State Public Interest Research Groups:

• Spend almost $900/year on college textbooks

• Average textbook cost:• $100 per textbook

College Textbooks

• Wholesale price of textbooks:• jumped 62% over the

last decade• Used Textbook are difficult to

find• Publishers issue a new

edition for each textbook each year

• Additional materials are not used

• Overpriced Textbook has made its way to the government

• Offer a tax break up to $1000• Overpriced Textbook has

become a national problems for college students

JUDGE

Decision Makers• Publishers

• Textbook packages (Including Textbook, CD-ROM, work book, etc.)• Determine the price• New textbook prices jumped 12 percent on average between the

previous and current edition

• Professors• Many require expensive books without researching alternative texts• Newer editions are required without significant changes in the

editions• Three-fourths (76 percent) of the faculty surveyed in a 2004 report

said that they found new editions justified only “half the time” or less

• Book Stores• Prices at which books are bought back are extremely low• Used books are sold at very high prices

Who gets left out?

• Students and Parents• Do not control textbook prices• Do not control the required textbooks

Roman Catholic Social Teaching

• “Special Claim of Poor and Vulnerable People - Those with greatest need require greatest response; this builds a just society”

• “Promotion of Common Good – Freedom of individuals in balance with good of society, domestically and globally. Structures created that give people opportunity to participate and to fulfill basic needs”

ACT

ACT

Solutions:

• Textbook Rental System

• Electronic Textbooks

Textbook Rental System

• Gives students the option to rent textbooks• Approximately 20 colleges and universities use

Textbook Rental Systems.• Such programs are

self-sufficient and fees

are collected in either

campus-based fees,

program-based fees,

or per-book fees.

Textbook Rental System

Advantages

•Benefits all parties involved in textbook publishing.•Renting is cheaper than purchasing for the students.•Students are given the option to purchase the book at the end of the term.•Still demonstrates to be profitable for Retailers & Academic Institutions.

Disadvantages

•Rental services require more space than traditional bookstores.

•Faculty must commit to using a textbook for a set amount of time.*

•Requires heavy initial investment of funds.

*Source: “Affordable Textbooks for the 21st Century,” issue by the California Public Interest Research Group.

Electronic TextbookBulk Purchasing of Electronic Textbooks

• Involves establishing a cooperative of colleges and universities that develops study materials for its member colleges and universities for distribution to their students. Membership in the program involves a fee, which, on a per-student basis, would be significantly low.

• UC Berkeley uses a similar program and is only costing the students $3.26.

• According to the NACS, 32.3% of a textbook’s prices covers publisher’s printing, paper, and editorial cost. Distributing textbooks electronically, online or on a CD-ROM, would significantly decrease this cost and in-turn reduce the prices of textbooks.

CONCLUSION

Questions??