Current Textbook Issues: SMCCCD Bookstores Efforts to Provide Lower Cost Textbook Options for Studen

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Current Textbook Issues SMCCCD Bookstores
Efforts to Provide Lower Cost Textbook Options
for Students

• Presented by
• Tom Bauer, Director, SMCCCD Bookstores

SMCCCD Board of Trustees Study Session January
11, 2006
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What Topics Will We Cover Today?

• Textbook Affordability and Access
• GAO and CalPIRG RIPOFF 101 Reports
• SMCCCD Bookstores and College Initiatives
• SMCCCD Bookstores Textbook Rental Program
• Next Steps

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Course Material Affordability Policy Landscape

• Noticeable increases in college costs in tuition,
  fees, and college textbooks.
• State budget cuts for higher education.
• Federal student aid funding not keeping up with
  need.
• Students more dependent on federal loans.

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College Board 2005 Report
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College Board Textbook and Supply Costs
2004-2005 to 2005-2006

• Average College Tuition and Fees
• At two-year public, tuition and fees average 112
  more than last year, a 5.4 percent increase.
• At four-year public, tuition and fees average
  365 more than last year, a 7.1 percent increase.
• At four-year private nonprofits, tuition and fees
  average 1,190 more than last year, a 5.9 percent
  increase.

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Annual Percentage Increase in College Textbook
Prices, College Tuition and Fees, and Overall
Price Inflation, December 1986 to December 2004
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Course Material Affordability Policy Landscape
(cont.)

• The growth of non-traditional students and
  changing student expectations.
• Increased sophistication and organization of
  student advocacy groups (CALPIRG).
• Changes in the book publishing and retail
  industry are in the news.

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COURSE MATERIALS

• FEDERAL EFFORTS

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Why GAO Conducted The Textbook Pricing Study?

• In March 2004, 15 Members of Congress requested
  the GAO study textbook pricing.
• Given that nearly half of undergraduates receive
  federal financial aid, Congress is interested in
  the overall cost of attendance, including the
  cost of textbooks.

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Why GAO Conducted This Textbook Pricing Study?

• The stated objectives of the study were to
  examine
• what has been the change in textbook prices,
• what factors have contributed to changes in
  textbook prices, and
• what factors explain why a given U.S. textbook
  may retail outside the United States for a
  different price.

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What was GAOs Methodology?

• Examined data from the U.S. Department of Labors
  Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index
  to determine how textbook prices have changed
  over time.
• Examined data from the U.S. Department of
  Educations Integrated Postsecondary Education
  Data System (IPEDS) to gain an understanding of
  the estimated cost of textbooks for first-time,
  full-time college students.

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What was GAOs methodology?

• Interviewed representatives of NACS, AAP,
  publishers, wholesalers, and student advocacy
  groups like CalPIRG.

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What GAO Found

• Pricing
• In the last two decades, college textbook prices
  have increased at twice the rate of inflation but
  have followed close behind tuition increases.
• Increasing at an average of 6 percent per year,
  textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986
  to December 2004, while tuition and fees
  increased by 240 percent and overall inflation
  was 72 percent.

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What GAO Found

• Pricing
• The cost of textbooks, as well as supplies, as a
  percentage of the published price of tuition
  and fees varies for first-time, full-time,
  degree-seeking students by the type of
  institution attended
• 72 at 2-year public institutions
• 26 at 4-year public institutions
• 8 at 4-year private institutions

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What GAO Found

• Supplemental Materials
• While many factors affect textbook pricing, the
  increasing costs associated with developing
  products designed to accompany textbooks in
  bundles, such as CD-ROMs and other instructional
  supplements, best explain price increases in
  recent years.

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What GAO Found

• Supplemental Materials
• Publishers say they have increased investments in
  developing supplements in response to demand from
  instructors. Wholesalers, retailers, and others
  expressed concern that the proliferation of
  supplements and more frequent revisions might
  unnecessarily increase costs to students by
  negating buyback opportunities.

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What GAO Found

• International Pricing
• U.S. college textbook prices may exceed prices in
  other countries because prices reflect market
  conditions found in each country, such as the
  willingness and ability of students to purchase
  the textbook.
• While geographical barriers have historically
  limited the reentry of textbooks intended for
  international distribution back into the United
  States, known as reimportation, recent advances
  in electronic commerce have broken down this
  barrier.

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GAO Study Impact on College Bookstores

• GAO consistently reported that college stores
  were concerned about students and made efforts to
  make course materials affordable for students.
• The study will hopefully spur additional
  research, influence campus and system policies,
  or frame the basis for future state/federal
  legislation. More broadly, the study may affect
  the nature of the debate about the cost of
  textbooks and how stakeholders should react to
  those costs.

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GAO Impact on Federal Legislation

• H.R. 609 The College Access and Opportunity Act
  of 2005
• H. R. 495 Sponsored by Representative Tim Ryan,
  (D-OH). The College Textbook Tax Credit Act of
  2005
• H.R. 625 Sponsored by Representative Dave Camp
  (R-MI) S. 1697 Sponsored by Senator Gordon
  Smith (R-OR).
• H.R. 1380 Sponsored by Representative Phil
  English (R-PA). The Higher Education
  Affordability and Equity Act of 2005
• S. 1677Sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer
  (D-NY)

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COURSE MATERIALS

• STATE EFFORTS

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State Course Material Legislation and Policy

• 38 college course material bills or studies in 17
  states are under consideration or acted on (as of
  10/30/05).
• State studies in Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois,
  North Carolina, and Virginia (West Virginia to
  review GAO report).
• State policies in one state may have the
  potential to impact other states or the nation.
• Most proposals are not well researched or lack
  engagement of college store industry
  stakeholders.

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2005 State Higher Education Textbook
Legislation and State Studies
Textbook Legislation and State Studies
State studies have been completed or underway
in CT, GA, IL, NC, VA, and WV.
No Action
as of 10/25/05
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2005 State Sales Tax Exemptions for College
Textbooks
2005 State Sales Tax Exemptions For College
Textbooks
?
as of 10/31/05
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State Course Material Legislation and Policy
(Cont.)

• Types of Legislation/Policy
• Mandate and regulate college course materials by
• how they are adopted (including faculty ethics).
• how they are packaged.
• how they sold or delivered.
• disclosing pricing, adoption lists and other
  information on course materials.
• Encourage, but not mandate
• Same as above items.
• Promoting rental programs.
• Convening task groups/study/policy
  recommendations.
• Adjusting education tax and student aid policy.
• State Buying Power Leverage (Maryland HB 70 and
  Illinois).

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California Leads The Way

• CALPIRG Rip Off 101, 101 2nd edition, Textbook
  Rental Guide, and bundling campaign.
• AB 2477 -Law.
• AB 2678 (rental) -Vetoed. More to come
• A Return to the Rental Debate?
• Adoption Lists?
• Copycat other states?
• State Buying Power Schemes.

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CalPIRG RIPOFF 101 Findings

• The most widely purchased textbooks on college
  campuses have new editions published every three
  years, on average.
• New editions of the textbooks surveyed cost, on
  average, 45 percent more than used copies of the
  previous edition.
• When issuing new editions, most publishers raise
  the prices of their books. Of the textbooks
  surveyed, new textbook prices jumped 12 percent
  on average between the previous and current
  edition, almost twice the rate of inflation
  between 2000 and 2003 (6.8 percent).
• Three-fourths (76 percent) of the faculty
  surveyed in our 2004 report said that they found
  new editions justified only half the time or
  less.

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CalPIRG RIPOFF 101 Findings

• Half (50 percent) of the textbooks in the survey
  were sold bundled, or shrink wrapped with
  additional instructional materials such as
  CD-ROMs and workbooks.
• When a bundled book is available for purchase
  unbundled (without the add-on materials), the
  bundled book is, on average, 10 percent more
  expensive than its unbundled counterpart. Some
  bundled textbooks are substantially more
  expensive. For example, a Thomson Learning
  chemistry textbook was 47 percent more expensive
  bundled (223.75) than when sold as a separate
  textbook (152.00).
• More than half of the bundled textbooks surveyed
  (55 percent) were not available for students to
  purchase a la carte, in which the textbook is
  available without the add-on materials.
• Two-thirds (65 percent) of the faculty surveyed
  in our 2004 report said that they used bundled
  items rarely or never.

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CalPIRG RIPOFF 101 Findings

• The average textbook surveyed costs 20 percent
  more in the United States than it does in the
  United Kingdom.
• Some textbooks were dramatically more expensive
  in the United States than in the United Kingdom.
  For example, Pearsons Calculus textbook, selling
  for about 100 in the U.S., costs only 38 on the
  U.K. Amazon.com website, just one third the
  price. Freemans Chemical Principles textbook,
  priced at 185 in the U.S., is available in the
  U.K. for only 88half the price.
• Some publishers display overseas prices on their
  websites. For example, Thomson Learnings website
  lists the prices charged to students in the U.S.,
  U.K., Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
  According to this website, for the books included
  in our survey, Thomson Learning charges U.S.
  students 72 percent more, on average, than it
  does students in the U.K., Africa and Middle
  East. Some books are priced even higher. For
  example, Thomson Learning charges U.S. students
  108 for its Biology textbook, but charges
  students in the U.K., Africa, and Middle East
  only 51 for the same book.

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CalPIRG RIPOFF 101 Recommendations

• Produce and price textbooks to be as inexpensive
  as possible without sacrificing educational
  value.
• Produce new textbook editions only when
  educationally necessary.
• Offer faculty and students the option to purchase
  textbooks unbundled.
• Provide faculty with more information on the
  companys textbook materials, prices, intended
  length of time on the market and substantive
  content differences from previous editions.

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AB 2477 Liu. Postsecondary education
production and pricing of college textbooks.
California Association of College Stores
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COURSE MATERIALS

• SMCCCD BOOKSTORES AND CAMPUS ACTIONS

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SMCCCD Bookstores Staff ARE the Experts on
Textbook Issues

• Monitor what things are being said by education
  officials (legislators, state boards, secretaries
  of education) and key stakeholders within our own
  community.
• We begin the dialogue. We communicate our value,
  business model, and openness for feedback to your
  key stakeholder's. The Bookstores staff ARE the
  experts.
• Understand the potential impact of policy
  proposals to the SMCCCD community, convey that
  information as appropriate to the proper
  individuals presidents office, VPI, VPSS,
  faculty, staff, students and administration.

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What have the Bookstores done with the GAO and
CalPIRG reports?

• Talk with othersconvene or participate in
  meetings with key stakeholders on campus
  regarding the report and the larger issues of
  textbook value and pricing.
• Explain how the GAO and CalPIRG study provides an
  independent and unbiased examination of textbook
  costs.
• Highlight how the report consistently found that
  college stores are concerned about students and
  the academic mission of the institutions of
  higher education that college stores serve.

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What have the Bookstores done with the GAO and
CalPIRG reports?

• We use the report to help explain the process of
  textbook adoption, the evolution of course
  materials, the role of the store, and how our
  role in the adoption process supports the
  stakeholders and provides value.
• We discuss how our stores currently support the
  goal of making a college education more
  affordable and how the store works every day to
  find ways to reduce cost for students.

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SMCCCD Bookstores Actions

• Used Textbooks become a District wide focus in
  2004.
• Used Textbook Sales Increased 464,090 from 2003
  to 2005 an increase of 27.
• Used Text Sales Increased due to Bookstore and
  Faculty Collaboration.
• The Faculty Stepped Up!
• On Time Book Orders up from 63 at due date in
  03 to 88 in 05!

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Bookstores Used Text Sales Increases 2003-2005
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SMCCCD Bookstores Actions

• Bookstore Management Team attends all DASAC
  meetings to report to students and respond to
  concerns.
• Bookstore Management Team attend Division
  meetings to talk about textbook issues and how
  they impact students and student success.
• CSM Bookstore donates 1 copy of each major
  textbook to Library for students use free of
  charge.

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SMCCCD Bookstores Actions

• Work with publishers to purchase unlike textbooks
  as a bundle at a reduced cost.
• Aggressively seek out lower cost textbook
  editions paper binding, abridged versions,
  custom editions, loose-leaf editions, BW.
• Sponsored the first Publisher Fair in Nov 05 for
  publishers to market lower cost textbook options
  to SMCCCD Faculty at all campuses.

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SMCCCD Bookstores Actions

• Actively source used textbooks from as many as 6
  used textbook wholesale companies.
• Actively source used textbooks from
  non-traditional sources such as Amazon.com.
• Actively work with faculty to extend length of
  use as well as review excessive supplemental
  materials packaged with textbooks.

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Bay 10 Bookstores Consortium







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Bay 10 Bookstores Consortium

• In the past few years, college bookstores in the
  San Francisco Bay Area have taken several steps
  to help contain students costs by working with
  faculty and publishers on our individual
  campuses. Several success stories are heard. The
  BAY 10 BOOKSTORES group hopes to move these
  efforts further, in order to achieve greater
  savings, by combining enrollments and creating
  selling terms which will induce publishers to
  offer lower prices.

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COURSE MATERIALS

• SMCCCD CAMPUS ACTIONS

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Campus Actions

• Cañada Presidents Textbook Scholarship raised
  52K last year for text scholarships. The fund
  helps fill in where state and federal aid has
  fallen short. Committee of community leaders
  actively raise funds. The fund received an
  anonymous donation of 25K in September 2005 that
  went directly to provide textbooks for needy
  students who would not otherwise have one.

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Campus Actions

• Bridge for Success Program at Cañada College is
  funded by a community leader and friend on Cañada
  College. Students with extraordinary financial
  needs are referred to Financial Aid Office for
  assistance. The program currently funds textbook
  needs for students that fall between the cracks
  or are in extreme need. These books are rented to
  the students and the rental fees covered by the
  fund.

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Campus Actions

• Partnership with Sequoia Board funds the Sequoia
  Allied Health Book Grant at Cañada College. A
  15K grant through the SMCCCD Foundation provides
  textbook scholarships to Allied Health and
  Nursing Students who demonstrate financial need
  not met by standard funding sources.

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Campus Actions

• Financial Aid Offices at all three colleges work
  tirelessly in cooperation with the Bookstores to
  identify students with additional financial need
  not met by current sources. All involved strive
  to ensure that students do not go through class
  without a textbook.

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INNOVATION

• WHAT MORE CAN THE BOOKSTORES DO TO
  PROVIDE ANOTHER LOW COST TEXTBOOK OPTION TO
  STUDENTS?

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Excerpt from CALPIRGs Ripoff 101

• Colleges and universities should consider
  implementing rental programs similar to those at
  several universities in Wisconsin and Illinois.
  Students would rent books similar to the way they
  are shared in K-12 but the students would pay a
  fee that covers the cost of the books.
• CALPIRG RIPOFF 101 January 29, 2004

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SMCCCD Textbook Rental Program

• Jai Kumar, manager at Cañada Bookstore, partners
  with Professor Diane Eyer from the ECE program at
  Cañada to create the first textbook rental
  program in the District.
• Textbooks rent to students for 25-30 of their
  new price.
• 100.00 Textbook rents for between 25.00 and
  30.00 for semester.

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Benefits of a Rental Program

• Savings to students---significantly reduced
  initial investment.
• Saving in freight---Bookstores do not have to
  continually reorder books semester after
  semester.
• Campus community sees the bookstore as actively
  seeking solutions regarding textbook prices.

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Rental Results for Fall 2005

• 1,700 students at Cañada and Skyline participated
  in the program renting 35 different textbook
  titles in Fall 2005 semester.
• Retail value of textbooks rented was 106,373.40
  if purchased.
• Students rented textbooks for 26,593.35
• SAVINGS of 79,780.05 to participating students.

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Next Steps in Textbook Rentals

• Roll Out Rental Program to all three campuses in
  05-06.
• Identify funding sources for seed money to start
  program.
• Cañada allocated 40K from Title V Grant to fund
  textbook rentals for Spring 06 semester. Cañada
  bookstore added another 20 titles to its rental
  library.

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What Determines Textbook Rentability

• Two-Year Adoption
• New edition
• One-term books only
• Course Frequency (every semester)
• Transferable Classes Preferred
• Non-Bundled

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Two Year Adoption

• In order to recoup the expense of this program,
  we require at least a two-year commitment to a
  particular textbook.

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New Edition

• The book must be a new edition so we can ensure
  availability and maximum savings over the
  lifetime of the edition.

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One-Term Book

• Books that are used by students for two
  consecutive terms (i.e. 361A and 361B) are not
  eligible for rental, because they would have to
  be rented twice which would negate some of the
  savings to the student.

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Course Frequency

• Courses must be ones that are taught every
  semester (both Fall and Spring).

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Core Classes

• Wed prefer courses to be either general
  education or core classes for a certain major. 
  There must at least be multiple sections using
  the same textbook. This will allow us to provide
  maximum benefits to the largest number of
  students. The courses must also be transferable.

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Non-Bundled

• Unfortunately, supplementary components will not
  be eligible for rental although we may be able to
  sell them separately.

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Cloth Cover

• Due to the constant handling and normal wear, it
  is recommended that you choose Cloth Bound
  (Hardback) textbooks.

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Bookstore Requirements to Operate Rental Program

• Allocate separate class and department.
• Setting up GL accounts.
• Creating POS codes.
• Document paper trail and follow-thru.
• Determine means of retrieving outstanding books.
• Taking markdowns for unreturned books.
• Storage space needed for textbooks.

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Bookstore Requirements to Operate Rental Program

• Create a department agreement
• Include multiple signatures
• Create a customer agreement form
• Include serial number
• Include identification number
• Create a customer return form
• Include serial number

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Bookstore Requirements to Operate Rental Program

• Cashiers
• Train data sequence for rental
• Train proper completion of forms
• Receiving procedures change
• Additional steps
• Apply serial labels, sku labels, rental labels,
  mark each book with serial

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Promoting Rental Program

• Promoting to Faculty, Chairs, and Deans, VPIs
  and Presidents
• Promoting to Students
• Promoting to EVERYONE!

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Promoting to Faculty

• Rental Request Letter
• Mass E-mails
• Direct E-mails
• Department Presentations
• Follow-up

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Promoting to Students

• Flyers
• Advertising
• Extensive store signage
• In-class visits
• Campus Newspaper Articles

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Looking Forward

• Spring 2006
• 20 titles goal at Cañada through Title V Funding
  in addition to First Five Rentals at Cañada and
  Skyline.
• Identify Funding Sources to expand Rental Program
  across Colleges including individual donors as
  well as District Funded Support.

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We Need Your Help

• Bookstore Management Team and Financial Aid Staff
  are actively seeking donors and District support
  so we can expand the rental program to more
  titles serving more students.
• Rental program is a GROWTH mechanism for the
  District lower cost textbooks will INCREASE
  enrollment.
• Rental program is innovative we are the only
  community college in the State with a program
  like this one WE ARE THE CUTTING EDGE.