College Textbooks: Students Have Greater Access to Textbook Information
Published: 2013-06-06T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The rising costs of postsecondary education present challenges to maintaining college affordability. Textbooks are an important factor students need to consider when calculating the overall cost of attending college. In an effort to ensure that faculty and students have sufficient information about textbooks, Congress included requirements in HEOA concerning publisher and school disclosures, as well as publisher provision of individual course materials. HEOA directed GAO to examine the implementation of the new textbook provisions.
This report addresses (1) the efforts publishers have made to provide textbook information to faculty and make bundled materials available for sale individually, and how these practices have informed faculty selection of course materials; and (2) the extent to which postsecondary schools have provided students and college bookstores access to textbook information, and what the resulting costs and benefits have been. To conduct this study, GAO interviewed eight publishers representing over 85 percent of new U.S. higher education textbook sales, administrators at seven schools, four campus bookstores, two national campus retailers, faculty and student groups at three schools, and others with relevant expertise. GAO also reviewed websites of a nationally representative sample of schools, complaint data from Education, and relevant federal laws.
GAO makes no recommendations in this report. The Department of Education provided technical comments, which were incorporated as appropriate.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Publishers included in GAO's study have disclosed textbook information required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), such as pricing and format options, and made components of bundled materials available individually, but stakeholders GAO interviewed said these practices have had little effect on faculty decisions. While most publishers in GAO's study provided all relevant textbook information, two smaller publishers did not provide copyright dates of prior editions, and one did not provide certain pricing information. Publishers communicated information to faculty online and in other marketing materials, and in most cases the information was available to students and the public. In addition, publishers said they began making bundled materials available for sale individually before HEOA was passed. Faculty GAO interviewed said they typically prioritize selecting the most appropriate materials for their courses over pricing and format considerations, although they said they are more aware of affordability issues than they used to be. Changes in the availability of options in the college textbook market that are not related to HEOA, such as the increase in digital products, have also shaped faculty decisions about course materials.
Based on GAO's review of a nationally representative sample of schools, an estimated 81 percent provided fall 2012 textbook information online, and stakeholders GAO interviewed said implementation costs were manageable and students have benefited from increased transparency. HEOA allows schools some flexibility in whether and how they disclose information and an estimated 19 percent of schools did not provide textbook information online for various reasons, such as including textbook costs in tuition and fees or not posting a course schedule online. Representatives of most schools and bookstores, as well as others GAO interviewed, said implementation costs were not substantial. In addition, there was general consensus among students and others GAO interviewed that students have benefited from timely and dependable textbook information. Specifically, representatives of student organizations said they had sufficient information and time to comparison shop for their course materials before each academic term.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: The rising costs of postsecondary education present challenges to  maintaining college access and affordability for students and families.  While tuition and fees are central to the cost of attendance, other  expenses, such as the cost of textbooks, are important for students to  consider when calculating the overall cost of attending college. In 2005,  we reported that college textbook prices had increased steadily and could  affect postsecondary access and affordability. While many factors affect  textbook pricing, we found that increasing costs associated with  developing products that accompany textbooks—including study guides  and technology applications, such as online homework and quizzes that  allow instructors to track student progress—best explained price  increases.
In an effort to ensure that faculty, students, and bookstores have  sufficient information about textbooks, Congress included requirements in  the Higher Education Opportunity Act related to publishers and schools disclosing pricing and other textbook information, as well as publishers  making textbooks and materials sold in a bundle available as individual  components. The Act also directed GAO to examine the implementation  of the textbook provisions. This report addresses (1) the efforts  publishers have made to provide textbook information to faculty and make  bundled materials available for sale individually, and how these practices  have informed faculty selection of course materials; and (2) the extent to  which postsecondary schools have provided students and college  bookstores access to textbook information, and what the resulting costs  and benefits have been.
In conducting this work, we interviewed representatives from eight  publishers that develop materials for the college textbook market and  reviewed supporting documentation from each of them. To obtain a range  of perspectives, we selected five publishers that represented over 85  percent of new U.S. higher education textbook sales, according to  information they provided us, as well as three smaller publishers. In  addition, we reviewed the websites of a nationally representative,  stratified random sample of 150 2-year and 4-year public, private  nonprofit, and private for-profit postsecondary schools to determine the  extent to which they have disclosed textbook information. The sample  was drawn from the Department of Education’s (Education) Integrated  Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which contains data on  over 7,200 institutions eligible for federal student aid programs. We  assessed the reliability of the IPEDS data and determined they were  sufficiently reliable for our purposes. In order to review comparable  information across schools, we examined available textbook information  for an introductory business, psychology, and biology course at each  school in our sample. The percentage estimates reported from this review have margins of error of 9 percentage points or less, unless  otherwise noted. All statistical tests and the margins of error were  constructed using a 95-percent confidence level. In cases where we were  unable to find or access textbook information online for a particular  school, we contacted the school to determine how to access it and  followed up with representatives as appropriate to determine the reasons  why the information was not available online. We collected complete  information for all 150 schools in our sample, resulting in a response rate  of 100 percent. While we reviewed documentation of publisher and school  efforts to implement the textbook provisions, we did not conduct a review  of any entity’s legal compliance. Based on the results of our review of  school websites, we conducted follow-up interviews regarding the  implementation of the textbook provisions and the associated costs and  benefits with various representatives from eight schools, including seven  groups of administrators, four campus bookstores, three faculty groups,  and three student government groups. To select this subset of eight  schools, we took into account characteristics such as level (2-year or 4- year), sector (public, private nonprofit, private for-profit), and geographic  location. We also interviewed representatives from two national campus  retailers that operate hundreds of bookstores nationwide, a textbook  rental company, a company that provides price comparison software for  campus bookstores, and professional organizations that represent  publishers, bookstores, faculty, students, and schools. Lastly, we  reviewed relevant studies and federal laws. See appendix I for more  information about our scope and methodology.
We conducted this performance audit from April 2012 to June 2013 in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain  sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our  findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that  the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and  conclusions based on our audit objectives.
subsections: section_title: Background
subsections: section_title: The College Textbook Market
paragraphs: The college textbook market is complex, with a number of parties  involved in the development and distribution of course materials. First,  publishers develop and produce textbooks and accompanying materials  for faculty and students. Publishers then market their materials to faculty,  school administrators, and sometimes academic departments that make  decisions about what course materials to assign to students. Publishers  employ sales representatives who often speak with instructors in person  to discuss product options. They also provide instructors with free sample  materials for their consideration.
Publishers produce a variety of products and services for faculty to  choose from in selecting course materials. In addition to traditional  textbooks, faculty can work with publishers to create customized course  materials by adding or deleting information from a single textbook or  multiple sources. Faculty may also select supplemental materials, such  as workbooks, lab activities, and study guides. Supplemental materials  and textbooks may be sold together in one package, referred to as a  bundle, and may also be available for sale separately. In addition to print  versions, course materials are often available as digital products that can  be accessed on computers or e-readers. Publishers have also developed  online interactive systems that integrate multimedia instructional material  with supplemental materials like homework or personalized quizzes and  tutorials.
Faculty or other designated parties select course materials and submit  orders for them according to the process and time frames established by  their school. Upon receiving information about selected materials and  enrollment numbers from the school, campus bookstores determine how  many to order and stock. These school-affiliated bookstores may include  independent booksellers and large retail chains. They generally sell both  new and used books, and some offer digital products and textbook rental  programs. Many campus bookstores also have websites through which  students can purchase or rent textbooks online. In addition to campus  bookstores, students may be able to obtain course materials from a  variety of sources. For example, students may purchase or rent course  materials from online retailers, publishers, or through peer-to-peer  exchanges, among other outlets. They may also borrow materials from  libraries or peers. An emerging source of course materials is the open  source model, in which textbooks and other materials are published under  a license that allows faculty to personally adapt materials and students to  access them for free or for a nominal cost. Table 1 below summarizes  common options available for obtaining course materials.
After completing a course, students may be able to offset their costs by  selling back their course materials to the campus bookstore, online  retailers, or wholesale companies. Bookstores generally buy as many  used textbooks from their students as possible, but there are limits to  what students can sell back. For example, electronic products are  generally not eligible for resale because they are accessible through one- time access codes or downloading. Opportunities to sell back customized  course materials may also be limited given their uniqueness to a  particular course on a particular campus.
section_title: Pricing and Spending
paragraphs: In 2005, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we reported  that new college textbook prices had risen at twice the rate of annual  inflation over the course of nearly two decades, increasing at an average  of 6 percent per year and following close behind increases in tuition and  fees. More recent data show that textbook prices continued to rise from  2002 to 2012 at an average of 6 percent per year, while tuition and fees  increased at an average of 7 percent and overall prices increased at an  average of 2 percent per year. As reflected in figure 1 below, new  textbook prices increased by a total of 82 percent over this time period,  while tuition and fees increased by 89 percent and overall consumer  prices grew by 28 percent.
While the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes data annually on college  textbook pricing, there are no comparable, nationally representative data  sources that estimate student spending. Given the range of options for  format and delivery of course materials, students are not limited to  purchasing new, print books. Students may lower their costs by  purchasing used or digital textbooks, renting materials, or taking  advantage of other affordable options. However, the price of new, print  books often drives the prices of other items. Specifically, as we reported  in 2005, used textbook prices are directly linked to new textbook prices in  that retailers typically offer used books for about 75 percent of the new,  print price.offered at a discount based on the new, print price. Thus, while students  may be able to find lower-priced options, increasing prices for new, print  books will likely lead to similar price increases for other related course  materials.
section_title: The Higher Education Opportunity Act
paragraphs: In part to ensure that students have access to information about selected  course materials, Congress included several provisions related to  textbook information in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), as  described below.
When publishers provide faculty or others responsible for selecting  course materials at schools with information about textbooks or  supplemental material, they are required to provide the price at which  they would make the textbook or supplemental material available to  the school’s bookstore (often referred to as the net price) and, if  available, to the public (often referred to as the retail price or the list  price).  They are also required to provide a description of substantial  content revisions between the current and prior edition, the copyright  dates of the three prior editions, if any, and any alternate formats  available, along with their net prices and retail price, if available.
20 U.S.C. § 1015b(c). While publishers may suggest retail prices, retailers determine the  final price at which to sell the materials.
Schools are generally required to disclose information on textbooks to  students and campus bookstores. Specifically, to the maximum  extent practicable, in their online course schedules, schools are to  provide the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and retail  price for required and recommended material for each course listed in  the schedule used for preregistration and registration purposes, with  some exceptions. If the ISBN is not available, schools are to provide  the author, title, publisher, and copyright date in the schedule. If  disclosing the required information is not practicable, the school is to  list it as “to be determined” (TBD) on the course schedule. In addition  to making these disclosures on the course schedule, schools are to  provide their affiliated bookstores with the same information, along  with enrollment data for each course as soon as practicable upon the  request of the bookstore. Beyond these requirements, HEOA  encourages schools to provide information to students about  institutional textbook rental programs, buyback programs, and any  other cost-saving strategies.
Figure 2 illustrates the types of information communicated throughout the  process of selecting and ordering course materials.
In addition to the disclosure requirements, HEOA requires publishers to  make college textbooks and materials sold together in a bundle available  for sale individually, a practice referred to as unbundling (see fig. 3).  While each component must be available individually, publishers may  continue to sell course materials in bundles. This requirement does not  apply in the case of integrated textbooks.
These are books with related  materials that are either governed by a third-party contract that prohibits  their separation, such as those produced by another company, or are so  interrelated that the components would be unusable on their own. For  example, a computer software textbook may include multimedia content  that is essential to understanding the book.
HEOA prohibits Education from issuing regulations related to the textbook  information section of the law. While Education therefore has a limited  role in this area, it provided some early nonregulatory guidance to help  publishers and schools understand the textbook provisions. In addition,  Education encourages students to consider textbook costs in preparing  for college and collects student complaints, including those related to  textbooks.
section_title: Publishers Have Disclosed Required Information and Made Materials Available Individually, but Stakeholders Said These Practices Had a Limited Effect on Faculty Decisions
subsections: section_title: Publishers Have Disclosed Required Information Online and in Other Marketing Materials
paragraphs: The eight publishers included in this study have disclosed textbook  information including retail prices, available alternative formats, and  descriptions of substantial content revisions between editions. Seven  publishers also provided net prices and six provided information on prior  copyright dates to faculty. Two smaller publishers told us they did not  have a practice of disclosing prior copyright dates, and one said net  pricing was not part of its business practices.
Publishers included in this study have communicated this information to  faculty online and in other marketing materials, as well as in the course  materials themselves. In most cases, publishers’ textbook information  was available to students and the public, in addition to faculty. For  example, all eight publishers chose to disclose retail prices and format  options in publicly accessible areas of their websites. Representatives  from one of these publishers stated the company’s intent in making the  information publicly available was to increase transparency. Another  publisher chose to disclose net pricing information to faculty on a  restricted-access website—a decision representatives said was meant to  avoid public confusion about the difference between net and retail prices.  Instead of using a website, representatives from another publisher said  they primarily use marketing materials distributed directly to faculty to  disclose net pricing and format information. In addition, publishers  provided some required information in the course materials themselves.  For example, five of eight publishers disclosed prior copyright dates on  the inside pages of textbooks. See figure 4 for the types of information  publishers disclosed and the methods they utilized for doing so.
Representatives of the majority of publishers included in our study said  disclosing required textbook information involved process changes that  took initial investments of time and financial resources. Some publishers  told us they made changes to their technology and production systems,  as well as their marketing practices. For example, representatives from  two publishers said they had to change their internal databases to include  all the textbook information specified in HEOA. Four publishers also told  us they conducted extensive training with staff about HEOA  implementation. Despite the changes publishers made to disclose  required textbook information, four publishers did not view the costs  directly associated with implementing HEOA as substantial.
section_title: Publishers Have Made Bundled Materials Available for Sale Individually
paragraphs: All publishers included in this study have made bundled materials  available for sale individually, which is a requirement of HEOA. In some  cases, publishers said they began phasing out bundles before HEOA’s  passage in 2008, which we also noted in our 2005 report. For example,  one publisher told us it made the decision to make its bundled products  available for sale individually prior to HEOA’s enactment because it  wanted to be more transparent about its product offerings. Another  publisher said that most of its bundled materials were available for sale  individually by 2004, and in response to HEOA, it only had to change its  external website to allow faculty to view the individual components. In  contrast, another publisher noted that in response to HEOA, it had to  begin setting prices for all bundled components and change its process  for storing them. In order to make faculty aware that bundled materials  are available individually, publishers use the same methods they use for  disclosing information about other course materials. For example, five  publishers display options for supplemental materials or bundles on their  public websites. These pages include lists of each component,  sometimes with individual prices or ISBNs.
Offering individual components for sale gives students more options when  selecting their course materials, but several bookstores, faculty, students,  and national associations told us that some market conditions may limit  the potential for savings or student choice. For example:
As we reported in 2005, buying individual components may not be  cheaper for students, as bundled products may be offered at a  discount compared to the price of buying each component separately.  Some publishers said that the discounts available on bundles are a  selling point with faculty. Several faculty, students, and bookstore  representatives we spoke with for this study told us that the price of  individual components, particularly electronic course materials, is  often higher than it would have been in a bundle. This pricing  structure may limit students’ ability to reduce their costs by purchasing  less expensive used books and choosing which supplements to  purchase.
Students may have limited options for obtaining unbundled  components. When faculty select bundles, campus bookstores may  choose not to stock all the individual components, according to  representatives from two campus bookstores and a national campus  retailer. In addition, publishers may not make some separate  components available for sale through campus bookstores, according  to representatives from an industry trade group and a national  campus retailer. In such cases, students wishing to obtain individual  components would need to seek other outlets, such as publisher  websites or online retailers.
As previously discussed, the HEOA requirement to make materials  available for sale individually does not apply in the case of integrated  textbooks, which either are governed by a third-party contract that  prohibits separation or would be rendered useless if separated. For  example, one publisher reported that it is not authorized to separately sell  a listening component that accompanies a music book under the terms of  the contract it has with the company that produced the music. While  representatives of one industry trade group expressed concern that the  exemption for integrated textbooks offered a way around the requirement  to ensure all products in a bundle are available for sale individually, the  five large publishers we spoke with said they offer very few of these  materials. For example, one publisher estimated that integrated textbooks  make up 2 percent of its inventory, while representatives of another said  they offer one integrated textbook.
section_title: Stakeholders Said the Availability of Information and Unbundled Materials Has Had Little Effect on Faculty Textbook Decisions
paragraphs: Representatives of faculty groups, bookstores and publishers we  interviewed said the availability of information and unbundled materials  has had little effect on college textbook selection decisions. Faculty told  us they typically prioritize selecting the most appropriate materials for  their courses over pricing and format considerations. One faculty group  we spoke with explained that the quality and relevance of the materials  are the key factors in finding the best match for the course. Another group  said they need to determine whether the material is at a level suitable for  the students likely to enroll and comprehensive enough for the content  they plan to cover. Only after they have identified the most appropriate  course materials will faculty consider pricing and format options,  according to stakeholders. For example, a representative of a national  campus retailer said faculty ask about cost-saving options like digital  formats and textbook rentals after they have identified the best materials  to help their students master the necessary concepts.
Changes in technology and available options in the college textbook  market—factors unrelated to HEOA—have also shaped faculty decisions  about course materials. For example, representatives from a publisher  and a national campus retailer noted there is growing interest in digital  assessment tools that allow faculty to track student progress in an effort  to improve student outcomes. In 2005, we reported that publishers were  developing these types of digital products to help enhance faculty  productivity and teaching. Currently, publishers are expanding these  offerings with interactive products like online interactive systems, which  may include some combination of instructional material, adaptive  homework questions, exams, worksheets, or tutoring programs in one  system. Representatives of two campus bookstores and a faculty group  told us that online interactive systems are becoming more popular at their  schools.
Although HEOA requires publishers to make textbooks and supplemental  materials available for sale individually, faculty can still select bundled  products for their courses. Some publishers and bookstores told us there  was initial confusion about whether the law constrained faculty choice in  selecting bundles, and they employed various communication efforts to  help clarify the issue. Our review of a nationally representative sample of  school websites shows that bundles continue to be assigned for some  courses. More specifically, in cases where schools provided textbook  information online, we found that an estimated 58 percent included  required materials that appeared to be bundles for at least one of the  three courses we reviewed.
Although faculty decisions about textbook selections have not changed  much in response to publisher practices, representatives of faculty groups  told us they are more aware of affordability than they used to be. For  example, faculty we spoke with at a public school expressed a strong  interest in finding appropriate textbook options that also save students  money because they often serve low-income students who work part- time. They added that a new textbook could cost over $200, which is  more than the course fee of $136. These faculty also said that as a result  of HEOA, more faculty are providing information about textbook  selections in their syllabi as early as possible, and are putting books on  reserve in the library. In addition, several faculty from different schools  reported using the same textbook for multiple semesters, which allows  students to buy a used version at a reduced price. At one public school,  faculty told us their school’s guidelines encourage them to consider both  the price of course materials and the use of the same edition of a  textbook for as long as possible. With regard to other cost-saving  solutions, a few faculty told us they have developed their own course  materials. For example, one professor said a lab manual for his course  could cost $50-$60 when developed by a publisher; instead, he created  his own, which costs students about $10 in printing fees. A music  professor said that with the advent of free online videos, he can teach his  class almost entirely by assigning links to websites.
section_title: Most Schools Provided Textbook Information Online, and Stakeholders Said Students Benefited from Increased Transparency
subsections: section_title: Most Schools Provided Textbook Information Online
paragraphs: Based on our review of a nationally representative sample of school  websites, most schools provided students and college bookstores with  the textbook information specified in the HEOA provisions. We estimate  that 81 percent of schools, serving an estimated 97 percent of college  students nationwide, made textbook information—such as the ISBN or  retail price—available online in time for the fall 2012 term. In addition, an  estimated 93 percent of these schools made the information publicly  available without the use of a password, allowing both current and  prospective students to view it.
Schools are structured and operate in various ways, and HEOA allows  some flexibility in whether and how they disclose textbook information. An  estimated 19 percent of schools did not provide textbook information  online. When we contacted all such schools in our sample to inquire  why they did not provide that information, representatives from 62 percent  said they included the cost of textbooks in tuition and fees or assessed  students a separate fee for textbooks.  Other reasons cited included not  posting a course schedule online and supplying required materials  through the school’s library (see fig. 5).
The extent to which schools provided textbook information online varied  by school sector and level (see fig. 6). The vast majority of public and  private nonprofit schools provided information compared to about half of  private for-profit schools, while 4-year schools provided information more  often than 2-year schools. In turn, we found the practice of including the  cost of textbooks in tuition and fees or assessing students a separate fee  for textbooks occurred at private for-profit schools more often than at  public or private nonprofit schools, and at 2-year schools more often than  at 4-year schools. Representatives we spoke with at one such private for- profit, 2-year school that offers medical, business, and technical programs  told us the school has a centralized curriculum and standardized  textbooks for each program across its 10 campuses, allowing it to  purchase textbooks and materials in bulk at lower prices and pass the  savings on to its students. This is a common practice among schools with  specialized or technical programs of study, according to a higher  education association we interviewed.
An estimated 80 percent of schools that provided textbook information  online to students and bookstores included the primary elements  specified in HEOA for all textbooks listed for the three courses we  reviewed. In doing so, almost all of these schools provided the ISBN or  alternative information outlined by HEOA (title, author, copyright date, and  publisher) and some retail pricing information (i.e., new, used, rental, or  other price) for all courses that required textbooks. A small share of  schools indicated textbook information was “to be determined” for one or  more of their courses. Of the remaining 20 percent of schools that  provided textbook information online, most included the primary elements  specified in HEOA for all textbooks listed for one or two courses we  reviewed, and almost all included some information that could assist  students in shopping for their textbooks, such as the titles or authors.
Schools also provided additional information—such as information on  textbook rental programs, used books, and digital products—to students,  as encouraged by the HEOA provisions. Of the estimated 81 percent of  schools that provided textbook information online for the fall 2012 term: an estimated 67 percent had an institutional textbook rental an estimated 73 percent provided some used textbook pricing  information for at least one course; and an estimated 40 percent provided other pricing information—almost  always for digital products—for at least one course.
Representatives of all campus bookstores and national campus retailers  we spoke with said they have ramped up their rental programs in the last  few years, and cited discounts for renting textbooks, ranging from 14 to  60 percent over the new retail price. They also reported their stores carry  used and digital books to provide students with additional options. One  campus bookstore reported that its students saved more than $150 per  semester, on average, after it introduced textbook rental and digital book  programs.
section_title: Stakeholders Said School and Bookstore HEOA Implementation Costs Were Manageable, and Students and Others Cited Benefits of Greater Transparency
paragraphs: Representatives of schools, bookstores, and higher education  associations we spoke with said the costs to schools and bookstores of  implementing the HEOA provisions were manageable. Administrators and  campus bookstore representatives of six schools, as well as a national  campus retailer, said they invested some time or money to implement the  HEOA provisions—for example, by linking up school and bookstore  databases and convening internal meetings—but that their costs were not  substantial. Representatives of another national campus retailer we  spoke with said their costs were more considerable because they  developed software to help their schools comply. We also heard from  representatives of two higher education associations, which represent  over a thousand schools nationwide, that implementation of the HEOA  textbook information provisions had gone smoothly and that they did not  hear about any complaints from their member schools.
Schools varied in their approach to implementing the HEOA provisions.  Some schools that provided textbook information online relied on their  campus bookstores to provide it, according to school administrators and  national campus retailers. For example, administrators we spoke with at  four schools said they provided textbook information to students by  adding links from their schools’ online course schedules to their  bookstores’ websites, which in some cases involved linking school and  bookstore databases so that students could go directly from the course  schedule to the bookstore’s list of textbook information for each course.  Administrators at two of these schools said this approach was simpler  and more cost-effective than other options they considered. Another  school went a step further and provided textbook information directly on  the school’s course schedule. Specifically, administrators said they used  a web-based tool from the company that managed their bookstore to  display textbook information directly on the school’s online course  schedule, at no additional cost to the school. A student at this school told  us it was helpful to have course and textbook information available in one  place. However, administrators at another school that considered this  approach, but ultimately included a link to the bookstore website instead,  said it would have required substantial resources and maintenance to  implement. Besides providing textbook information to students, schools  also submitted the number of students enrolled in each course to their  campus bookstores, as outlined by HEOA. Administrators at four schools  we spoke with said they provide this information electronically by  transferring it from their course registration database to the campus  bookstore’s database.
Some bookstores moved up their deadlines for faculty to submit their  textbook choices as a result of implementing the HEOA provisions.  Specifically, representatives from an industry trade group representing  school bookstores said some of their members moved their fall deadlines  up by as many as 2 months to provide textbook information to students at  the time of preregistration. Representatives of two campus bookstores  and both national campus retailers we spoke with reported that getting  faculty to submit their textbook choices by the deadlines had already  been a challenge prior to HEOA. However, faculty we spoke with at one  school, as well as representatives from two campus bookstores and an  industry trade group, acknowledged there may be legitimate reasons why  textbook choices are not submitted by the deadline, such as a given  course having no instructor assigned.
Students, faculty, school administrators, and most other stakeholders we  spoke with said students have benefited from having timely and reliable  textbook information. As faculty submit more complete and timely  textbook information, schools are better able to provide that information to  students, according to faculty at one school and representatives from a  campus bookstore and an industry trade group. Representatives of  student organizations at three schools said they now have sufficient  information and time to shop for their course materials before each  academic term. Students told us they use ISBNs found on their campus  bookstore’s website to actively research textbook prices at both the  campus bookstore and other retailers, and that they make better  spending decisions as a result. Students at one school said researching  their options to find the highest quality materials for the lowest cost is  easy and worth the little time it takes. For example, one student estimated  she saves about $150 per semester by being able to compare prices  among multiple retailers. Students at one of the three schools said their  campus bookstore includes competitors’ prices on its website, allowing  students to see which retailer offers the lowest price for a given textbook.  While students said price is the biggest factor affecting their decisions  about obtaining textbooks, they also consider how they want to use the  books and how long they want to keep them. For example, students at  three schools mentioned that some students prefer to highlight or take  notes in print versions of books rather than mark up digital books.  Students also said they are able to obtain ISBNs and other information in  enough time to acquire their required textbooks by the first day of class.  Students further benefit from increased information on the options for  obtaining textbooks, such as institutional rental programs, according to  representatives from one bookstore and an industry trade group we  interviewed. In addition to talking to students and other stakeholders, we  reviewed 153 entries from Education’s Program Compliance Complaints  Tracking System from July 2010 through April 2012 that mentioned the  word “book.” While we found several entries related to the timing of  financial aid for purchasing books, our review yielded no complaints  related to the HEOA textbook provisions.
section_title: Concluding Observations
paragraphs: As the cost of attending college continues to rise, students and their  families need clear and early information about the cost of textbooks. In  implementing HEOA’s textbook provisions, publishers and schools have  provided them with increased access to such information. Greater  transparency of information alone, however, does not make textbooks  less expensive, as the affordability of course materials results from the  complex market forces that drive prices. Moreover, the textbook market is  different from other commodity markets; although students are the end  consumers, faculty are responsible for selecting which textbooks students  will need, thereby limiting students’ ability to allay costs. Nevertheless, the  proliferation of new products, formats, and delivery channels has left  students with many options for obtaining course materials. For example,  students can now choose whether to realize savings upfront by selecting  digital or rental options, or on the back end by reselling books in the used  book market. In light of the increased complexity of students’ options, the  information schools have provided in implementing HEOA has proven  useful to students in making informed decisions. As a result, even though  students cannot directly control the cost of their textbooks, they can better  manage these costs by comparison shopping and making deliberate  decisions about what to purchase, and from where.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We provided a draft of the report to the Department of Education for review  and comment. Education provided technical comments, which we  incorporated as appropriate.
We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Education,  relevant congressional committees, and other interested parties. In  addition, the report is available at no charge on the GAO website at  http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact  me at (617) 788-0534 or emreyarrasm@gao.gov. Contact points for our  Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on  the last page of this report. GAO staff who made key contributions to this  report are listed in appendix III.
section_title: Appendix I: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To examine publishers’ efforts and faculty decision-making, we  interviewed representatives from eight publishers that develop materials  for the college textbook market and reviewed supporting documentation  from each of them, including documents from their websites and ones  obtained at the interviews. To obtain a range of perspectives, we selected  five publishers that represented over 85 percent of new U.S. higher  education textbook sales, according to information they provided us, as  well as three smaller publishers. The views of publishers we spoke with  cannot be generalized to all publishers. While we reviewed  documentation of publisher efforts to provide information to faculty and  make bundled materials available for sale individually, we did not  evaluate whether these practices, as supported by documentation or  described to us in interviews, were in compliance with the law. We also  interviewed others with relevant expertise, including faculty groups at  three schools, two national campus retailers that operate hundreds of  bookstores nationwide, a textbook rental company, a company that  provides price comparison software for campus bookstores, and  professional organizations that represent publishers, bookstores, faculty,  students, and schools.
To determine the extent to which postsecondary schools have provided  students and college bookstores access to textbook information, we  reviewed websites of a nationally representative, stratified random  sample of 150 schools to determine the extent to which they disclosed  textbook information in their fall 2012 course schedules. The sample was  drawn from Education’s 2010-2011 Integrated Postsecondary Education  Data System (IPEDS), which contains data on over 7,200 institutions  eligible for federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the  Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. We assessed the reliability of  the IPEDS data by reviewing Education’s quality control procedures and  testing the data electronically. We determined the data were sufficiently  reliable for our purposes. Our sampling frame consisted of all public,  private nonprofit, and private for-profit 2-year and 4-year degree-granting  postsecondary schools that participated in Title IV federal student aid  programs, had undergraduate programs, were not U.S. military  academies, and had at least 100 students, yielding a universe of 4,293  schools. We created six strata to stratify the sampling frame by sector  (public, private nonprofit, and private for-profit) and level (2-year and 4- year). This sample of schools allowed us to make national estimates  about the availability of textbook information, as well as estimates by  sector and level. The percentage estimates reported from this review  have margins of error at the 95 percent confidence level of 9 percentage  points or less, unless otherwise noted. In order to review comparable  information across the sampled schools, we developed a standardized  web-based data collection instrument and pre-tested it in July 2012.  Using the finalized data collection instrument, we examined available  textbook information for an introductory business, psychology, and  biology course at each school in our sample. We judgmentally selected  these subjects because they are among the top 10 undergraduate majors  for degree-completing students, according to IPEDS data. In addition,  these courses likely affect a larger number of students than upper division  courses. We reviewed school websites from July through September  2012, as students would be obtaining textbooks for their fall 2012 term  courses. In cases where we were unable to find or access textbook  information online for a particular school, we contacted the school to  determine how to access it and followed up with representatives as  appropriate to determine the reasons why information was not available  online. We recorded and verified the information we obtained in the web- based data collection instrument to facilitate the analysis across schools.  We collected complete information for all 150 schools in our sample,  resulting in a response rate of 100 percent.
Based on the results of our review of school websites, we conducted  follow-up interviews regarding the implementation of the HEOA textbook  provisions and the associated costs and benefits with various  representatives from eight schools in our sample, including seven groups  of administrators, four campus bookstores, three faculty groups, and  three student government groups. (See table 2 for a list of schools.) To  select this subset of eight schools, we took into account characteristics  such as sector, level, and geographic location.
To provide background information on changes in the prices of textbooks  over time, we reviewed public data from 2002-2012 from the Consumer  Price Index (CPI) published by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of  Labor Statistics (BLS). The CPI data reflect changes over time in the  prices paid by urban consumers for different goods and services.  Specifically, we reviewed CPI data for three expenditure categories:  college textbooks, college tuition and fees, and overall prices. The college  textbooks data are limited to the price of new print and digital books. In  addition, the timeframes for collecting price information in the field vary,  so different textbooks may be priced at different times. We assessed the  reliability of these data by reviewing documentation of the CPI data and  interviewing BLS officials about the methodology used to calculate the  data. We determined that these data were sufficiently reliable for the  purposes of our study. We provided BLS with an opportunity to review our  use of the CPI data.
In addition, we reviewed complaints submitted to Education to determine  whether any were related to the information provided by schools about  required textbooks. Specifically, Education provided GAO with an excerpt  from its Program Compliance Complaints Tracking System containing any  complaints in which the word “book” appeared. There were 153 such  complaints from July 2010, when the HEOA textbook provisions went into  effect, through April 2012. We took steps to verify the reliability of the  data. We interviewed Education officials about the methodology used to  calculate the data and determined they were sufficiently reliable for our  purposes. We also reviewed relevant studies and federal laws.
section_title: Appendix II: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the contact named above, Debra Prescott (Assistant  Director), Lara Laufer, Jeffrey G. Miller, Amy Moran Lowe, Michelle  Sager, Najeema Washington, and Rebecca Woiwode made significant  contributions to this report. Also contributing to this report were David  Barish, James Bennett, Deborah Bland, David Chrisinger, Daniel  Concepcion, Jennifer Cook, Rachel Frisk, Alex Galuten, Bill Keller,   Ying Long, Jean McSween, Karen O’Conor, and Betty Ward-Zukerman.