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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) It is in the interest of the Nation to ensure 
that the people of the United States have the oppor-
tunity to obtain a postsecondary education. 
(2) According to the United States Census Bu-
reau, in 2001 a person with a bachelor’s degree
earned nearly 90 percent more, on average, than a 
person with only a high school diploma. 
(3) Since 1980, the rate of increase of the cost 
of postsecondary education has far exceeded the rate 
of increase of inflation, public assistance to students, 
and family income. 
(4) Over the past decade, increases in tuition at 
private colleges and universities in the United States 
have averaged nearly 5 percent per year and have 
been twice as great as increases in the Consumer 
Price Index. 
(5) The rapidly rising cost of postsecondary 
education poses a serious threat to the ability of the 
people of the United States to ensure their and their 
children’s access to postsecondary education. 
(6) Since 1992, the annual amount of new stu-
dent 
loan 
commitments 
has 
increased 
from 
$15,000,000,000 to $35,000,000,000, which rep-
resents an increasing burden on college graduates to 
pay for their college education long after that edu-
cation is completed. 
(7) According to the National Association of 
Independent Colleges and Universities, nearly 80 
percent of their full time, dependent undergraduates 
receive some sort of financial assistance.
(8) Students can spend nearly $1000 a year on 
college textbooks, and, for many students, particu-
larly those in 2-year degree and certificate pro-
grams, textbooks make up a large percentage of 
postsecondary education costs. 
(9) American college students often find that 
their textbooks cost far less overseas than they do in 
United States; oftentimes, the exact same textbook 
can be purchased overseas at half the cost. 
(10) Congress must do everything possible, in-
cluding addressing the cost of college textbooks, to 
make college more affordable. 
SEC. 2. COMPTROLLER GENERAL INVESTIGATION RE-
QUIRED. 
(a) INVESTIGATION REQUIRED.—Within 6 months 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General shall conduct an investigation to examine—
(1) the cost of college textbooks in the United 
States; and 
(2) whether the same textbooks are being sold 
outside the United States for substantially less than 
the cost in the United States. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.—Within one year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
shall submit a report on the investigation required by sub-
section (a) to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate. 
Such report shall include—
(1) the average amount of money a student 
spends on textbooks; 
(2) the average cost to produce a new textbook; 
(3) the average cost to produce a new edition 
of a previously published textbook; 
(4) the reasons for the price discrepancy in 
textbooks in the United States and outside the 
United States; 
(5) the extent of the problem with such price 
discrepancy; 
(6) whether the price discrepancy problem oc-
curs more in certain subject areas than others; 
(7) the extent to which new editions of text-
books are different from their previous editions, in-
cluding the percentage of work that is actually sub-
stantively changed from one edition to the next; and 
(8) the average time period between old and 
newer editions of textbooks.
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