[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3393-S3394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. Coleman):
  S. 945. A bill to ensure that college textbooks and supplemental 
materials are available and affordable; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, when we talk about college affordability, 
the discussion typically focuses on tuition costs, Pell grants and 
student loans. But we cannot talk about college affordability without 
also including college textbook costs in the same conversation.
  Picture a bright, hard-working college student at the beginning of a 
new term. The student, who comes from a family of modest means, has 
managed to pay for tuition through a combination of grants, 
scholarships, student loans and part-time work. The student goes to her 
college bookstore to buy her textbooks. She walks out of the bookstore 
with her textbooks and wonders how she will be able to pay the $500 
charge she just put on her credit card to buy the required books for 
her classes.
  According to GAO, college textbook prices have risen an average of 
six percent each year since 1987 and at twice the rate of annual 
inflation over the last two decades. Textbook prices have been 
following increases in tuition and fees. Since December of 1986, 
textbook prices have increased by 186 percent and tuition and fees grew 
by 240 percent. GAO found that the primary contributing factor is the 
investment publishers have made to develop and produce supplemental 
materials such as CDs and Web-based tutorials.
  The cost of textbooks and supplies as a percentage of tuition and 
fees depends on the type of institution the student is attending. GAO 
determined that the average estimated cost of books and supplies for 
full-time freshman students at four-year public schools was $898 in 
2003, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At two-year 
public institutions, where the average student is more likely to be 
low-income, the average estimated cost was even higher due to lower 
tuition and fees at these schools. A first-year student at a two-year 
school spent a comparable amount--$886 on average, but that is nearly 
three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees. Students at public two-
year schools are trying to find an economical way to pursue higher 
education, but could easily be sidelined by high textbook costs.
  What can be done to keep textbooks affordable for college students? 
Publishers, schools and bookstores can take any number of steps to help 
keep the cost of textbooks down. Schools, and in particular, 
professors, have tremendous power to help cut down the overall cost of 
textbooks. I was shocked to learn that many professors do not know the 
retail price of the textbook they are choosing for their class. The 
earlier a bookstore receives textbook information from a professor, the 
greater the ability of the bookstore to obtain cheaper used versions of 
the required text.
  There are other actions that publishers and professors can take to 
help keep down the cost of textbooks, and that is why I am introducing 
the bipartisan College Textbook Affordability Act, cosponsored by 
Senator Coleman.
  First, the bill requires transparency. Publishers must provide the 
price of a textbook in writing whenever a publisher's representative 
provides information on a textbook to a professor. The professor must 
also be provided the history of revisions for a textbook or 
supplemental material and whether the textbook or supplement is 
available in an alternative format, such as paperback, one- or two-
colored editions, and loose-leaf editions. Publishers insist that 
access to such information is readily available to professors. If this 
is truly the case, then this bill will simply codify what publishers 
claim is already their industry's normal practice and would not be an 
undue burden placed on the industry.
  Under the bill, textbooks and supplemental materials that are sold as 
a bundle must also be sold separately. The GAO report found that 
instructors are often unaware that the course materials they have 
chosen will be sold as a bundle.
  The legislation also requires schools to do their part in managing 
textbook costs for students. Schools are required to include the 
international standard

[[Page S3394]]

book number, or ISBN number and the retail price of all required and 
optional materials in the course schedule for the upcoming term. This 
requirement would help ensure that bookstores receive book orders in 
time to stock up on any available used books and would provide students 
with plenty of time to search for lower-priced textbooks via 
alternative sources such as online booksellers or other students.
  When asked, schools must also provide bookstores with access to the 
course schedule, ISBN numbers for required and optional course 
material, the maximum student enrollment for a course and the current 
enrollment numbers. Access to this information would allow bookstores 
to better estimate the amount of inventory they should maintain for 
each course. A school in my home state, Illinois State University, 
recognized the importance of giving students and bookstores early 
access to such information. ISU's online course schedule provides 
students with ISBN numbers, and bookstores are given access to course 
enrollment numbers as well as required and optional course materials.
  Combined, these actions can help drive down the cost of textbooks and 
help make college more affordable for students. The college 
affordability conversation cannot focus only on raising federal grants 
and lowering student loan interest rates. There is no question that 
federal aid has not kept up with rising college costs. However, we must 
also look at why college costs, including textbook costs, continue to 
increase year after year.
  I have heard stories of students, especially community college 
students, who decide to drop a semester or a year because they simply 
cannot afford the textbooks. This is just unacceptable. Textbook costs 
are a part, and in some cases a large part of college costs, and we 
must do what is within our power to ensure that students do not put 
their education on hold just because they cannot afford to buy the 
textbooks.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bills were ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 945

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``College Textbook 
     Affordability Act of 2007''.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND INTENT.

       The purpose of this Act is to ensure that every student in 
     higher education is offered better and more timely access to 
     affordable course materials by educating and informing 
     faculty, students, administrators, institutions of higher 
     education, bookstores, and publishers on all aspects of the 
     selection, purchase, sale, and use of the course materials. 
     It is the intent of this Act to have all involved parties 
     work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of 
     college textbooks and supplemental materials for students 
     while protecting the academic freedom of faculty members to 
     provide high quality course materials for students.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) College textbook.--The term ``college textbook'' means 
     a textbook, or a set of textbooks, used for a course in 
     postsecondary education at an institution of higher 
     education.
       (2) Course schedule.--The term ``course schedule'' means a 
     listing of the courses or classes offered by an institution 
     of higher education for an academic period.
       (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
     ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
     term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1002).
       (4) Publisher.--The term ``publisher'' means a publisher of 
     college textbooks or supplemental materials involved in or 
     affecting interstate commerce.
       (5) Supplemental material.--The term ``supplemental 
     material'' means educational material published or produced 
     to accompany a college textbook.

     SEC. 4. PUBLISHER REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) College Textbook Pricing Information.--When a publisher 
     provides a faculty member of an institution of higher 
     education with information regarding a college textbook or 
     supplemental material available in the subject area in which 
     the faculty member teaches, the publisher shall include, with 
     any such information and in writing, the following:
       (1) The price at which the publisher would make the college 
     textbook or supplemental material available to the bookstore 
     on the campus of, or otherwise associated with, such 
     institution of higher education.
       (2) Any history of revisions for the college textbook or 
     supplemental material.
       (3) Whether the college textbook or supplemental material 
     is available in any other format, including paperback and 
     unbound, and the price at which the publisher would make the 
     college textbook or supplemental material in the other format 
     available to the bookstore on the campus of, or otherwise 
     associated with, such institution of higher education.
       (b) Unbundling of Supplemental Materials.--A publisher that 
     sells a college textbook and any supplemental material 
     accompanying such college textbook as a single bundled item 
     shall also sell the college textbook and each supplemental 
     material as separate and unbundled items.

     SEC. 5. PROVISION OF ISBN COLLEGE TEXTBOOK INFORMATION IN 
                   COURSE SCHEDULES.

       (a) Internet Course Schedules.--Each institution of higher 
     education that receives Federal assistance and that publishes 
     the institution's course schedule for the subsequent academic 
     period on the Internet shall--
       (1) include, in the course schedule, the International 
     Standard Book Number (ISBN) and the retail price for each 
     college textbook or supplemental material required or 
     recommended for a course or class listed on the course 
     schedule that has been assigned such a number; and
       (2) update the information required under paragraph (1) as 
     necessary.
       (b) Written Course Schedules.--In the case of an 
     institution of higher education that receives Federal 
     assistance and that does not publish the institution's course 
     schedule for the subsequent academic period on the Internet, 
     the institution of higher education shall include the 
     information required under subsection (a)(1) in any printed 
     version of the institution's course schedule and shall 
     provide students with updates to such information as 
     necessary.

     SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION FOR COLLEGE TEXTBOOK 
                   SELLERS.

       An institution of higher education that receives Federal 
     assistance shall make available, as soon as is practicable, 
     upon the request of any seller of college textbooks (other 
     than a publisher) that meets the requirements established by 
     the institution, the most accurate information available 
     regarding--
       (1) the institution's course schedule for the subsequent 
     academic period; and
       (2) for each course or class offered by the institution for 
     the subsequent academic period--
       (A) the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for each 
     college textbook or supplemental material required or 
     recommended for such course or class that has been assigned 
     such a number;
       (B) the number of students enrolled in such course or 
     class; and
       (C) the maximum student enrollment for such course or 
     class.

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