University students who believe they are paying too much for their textbooks are not alone. They are joined by Virginia21, a non-partisan group advocating policies to make the textbook-purchasing process both fairer and less expensive.
Virginia21 Communications Director David Solimini described the group, which focuses on issues pertaining to young voters 18- to 24-years-old, as an "AARP for people our age."
"The goal is to help create a free market for textbooks," Solimini said.
Virginia21 submitted a formal bill to the Virginia General Assembly which will be voted on by the Higher Education Subcommittee Friday.
In the bill, Virginia21 addressed two main factors that drive up the cost of students' textbooks.
First, Virginia21 believes students should be able to find out what books will be required further in advance. At some schools, students cannot find out what textbooks are required until the first day of class, providing the school's bookstore with a type of monopoly.
"First we want to make sure that students have the option to comparison shop," Solimini said. "As soon as the campus bookstore is told what is going to be required for a class, that list is also online."
Making the book list available earlier would allow students more time to search for bargains using services such as those found online where prices can be up to 40 percent cheaper, Solimini added.
John Kates, executive director of the University Bookstore and Cavalier Computers, said the University Bookstore makes the list of required books available for students and this information typically is available a week or so before classes start.
"Generally we wait until [later] and the reason we do this is because a lot of courses get cancelled or books get added and we do not want to provide incorrect information," Kates said.
The University Bookstore also offers the option of purchasing used textbooks as a way to save money, and many students take advantage of this option, according to Kates.
We have increased our purchase of used books significantly over the last few years based on customer requests, and right now I think we sell virtually every one we get in," he said.
Although it has not yet been an issue in the Commonwealth, the second problem Virginia21 addresses is that of publishing companies offering financial incentives to professors who require the use of the company's textbooks in their classes. Excluding the assignment of books that the professors themselves have written, Virginia21 wants to forbid professors from requiring textbooks in situations where professors were offered any sort of incentive to make such a recommendation.
While Solimini admitted that this is not a frequent problem, he said, "Even if one out of 100 professors do it, we feel that we should protect students from it"
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