The rising price of books needed for class may be slowed by disclosure rules agreed to by legislative negotiators.
April 30, 2007
StarTribune
Norman Draper
House and Senate negotiators Monday took another step toward controlling the high costs of college textbooks, agreeing to require publishers to disclose textbook costs, formats, return policies, and how much new editions differ from older ones.
The disclosures are meant to give students and faculty more textbook choices, and to get a handle on their classroom books and materials expenses, which can run students up to $1,000 a year. It's not uncommon to find students at college bookstores shelling out well over $100 for individual texts.
Higher education conference committee members also agreed that public colleges and universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system must meet annually with students, teachers and administrators to figure out how to reduce the costs of college course materials. Private colleges and the University of Minnesota would be asked to adopt the disclosure measures.
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