I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3567

To require the General Accounting Office to conduct an investigation of 

the high price of college textbooks. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2003

Mr. WU introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To require the General Accounting Office to conduct an 

investigation of the high price of college textbooks.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 The Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) It is in the interest of the Nation to ensure 

6 that the people of the United States have the oppor7 tunity to obtain a postsecondary education. 

8 (2) According to the United States Census Bu9 reau, in 2001 a person with a bachelor’s degree 
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1 earned nearly 90 percent more, on average, than a 

2 person with only a high school diploma. 

3 (3) Since 1980, the rate of increase of the cost 

4 of postsecondary education has far exceeded the rate 

5 of increase of inflation, public assistance to students, 

6 and family income. 

7 (4) Over the past decade, increases in tuition at 

8 private colleges and universities in the United States 

9 have averaged nearly 5 percent per year and have 

10 been twice as great as increases in the Consumer 

11 Price Index. 

12 (5) The rapidly rising cost of postsecondary 

13 education poses a serious threat to the ability of the 

14 people of the United States to ensure their and their 

15 children’s access to postsecondary education. 

16 (6) Since 1992, the annual amount of new stu17 dent loan commitments has increased from 

18 $15,000,000,000 to $35,000,000,000, which rep19 resents an increasing burden on college graduates to 

20 pay for their college education long after that edu21 cation is completed. 

22 (7) According to the National Association of 

23 Independent Colleges and Universities, nearly 80 

24 percent of their full time, dependent undergraduates 

25 receive some sort of financial assistance. 
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1 (8) Students can spend nearly $1000 a year on 

2 college textbooks, and, for many students, particu3 larly those in 2-year degree and certificate pro4 grams, textbooks make up a large percentage of 

5 postsecondary education costs. 

6 (9) American college students often find that 

7 their textbooks cost far less overseas than they do in 

8 United States; oftentimes, the exact same textbook 

9 can be purchased overseas at half the cost. 

10 (10) Congress must do everything possible, in11 cluding addressing the cost of college textbooks, to 

12 make college more affordable. 

13 SEC. 2. COMPTROLLER GENERAL INVESTIGATION RE14 QUIRED. 

15 (a) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Within 6 months 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

17 General shall conduct an investigation to examine—

18 (1) the cost of college textbooks in the United 

19 States; and 

20 (2) whether the same textbooks are being sold 

21 outside the United States for substantially less than 

22 the cost in the United States. 

23 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within one year after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

25 shall submit a report on the investigation required by sub-
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1 section (a) to the Committee on Education and the Work2 force of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 

4 Such report shall include—

5 (1) the average amount of money a student 

6 spends on textbooks; 

7 (2) the average cost to produce a new textbook; 

8 (3) the average cost to produce a new edition 

9 of a previously published textbook; 

10 (4) the reasons for the price discrepancy in 

11 textbooks in the United States and outside the 

12 United States; 

13 (5) the extent of the problem with such price 

14 discrepancy; 

15 (6) whether the price discrepancy problem oc16 curs more in certain subject areas than others; 

17 (7) the extent to which new editions of text18 books are different from their previous editions, in19 cluding the percentage of work that is actually sub20 stantively changed from one edition to the next; and 

21 (8) the average time period between old and 

22 newer editions of textbooks.

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