New vs. Used Textbooks

With the start of every semester college students everywhere face the inevitable: the purchasing of textbooks for the semesters courses. A study done by the GAO (investigative part of Congress) suggests that American families spent more than $6 billion on new and used textbooks in the 2003-2004 school year. This study also suggests that college textbook prices have "nearly tripled" between 1986 and 2004. The prices of textbooks have actually increased more (6%) than tuition (4%) in that span of time. In Oregon, about 5.6% of the student dollar pays for textbooks. College book stores often give the option of buying used textbooks for a less expensive price, and in turn, selling the books that you use for a fractional profit. This is obviously a good thing for college students who often do not have the money to purchase fully priced textbooks. It is not such a good thing for the publishing companies. Publishing companies explain the increasing textbook prices on the addition of technological applications (such as online homework, quizzes, and multimedia lectures). As the report points out, these features may not be of any cost to the professors, but the cost is added into the overall price of the textbook. Many students complain that it is unfair that we have to purchase all the extra technological enhancements since there is no other option (such as a textbook without the extras).

The new v. old textbook dilemma has many different sides: either the publishing company or the students lose money and technology has also added to the frustrations on both parts. My question is what can we do to find a happy medium: How can both the publishing companies and the students be content with the textbook dilemma?