On top of rising tuition costs and decreased financial aid, college students must factor into their budgets long lists of expensive textbooks required each term.

At Oregon State University, students, faculty, administrators and the OSU Bookstore are working to avoid unnecessary add-ons and updated editions, support buyback policies and find alternatives to traditional textbooks.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Students of OSU, the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group and the Make Textbooks Affordable Campaign presented a forum to discuss what drives textbook prices — and how to reduce costs and help make higher education more accessible.

“It’s an unfair and uncompetitive market,” said Rhonda Smythe, a junior majoring in nutrition and ASOSU intern. “Professors select the books, but they’re not the ones buying them, so that removes price as the primary consideration.”

Smythe transferred to OSU from Portland Community College this year. At PCC, students and faculty formed a task force devoted to keeping textbook prices low. Similar efforts at underway at OSU.

Student Public Interest Research Groups, a nationwide organization with an Oregon office, recently released a report looking at textbook prices, “Required Reading: A Look at the Worst Publishing Tactics at Work.”

Smythe shared some of the findings at Wednesday’s gathering, which drew about two dozen people to the Memorial Union Lounge.

On average, college students spend nearly $900 a year on textbooks, she said. For students at four-year colleges, textbooks will cost about 26 percent of what they pay in tuition and fees. At two-year colleges, it’s 72 percent.

Textbook prices have risen at twice the annual rate of inflation for the past two decades, Smythe added. A congressional committee has been appointed to investigate these skyrocketing costs.

A major factor is the frequency with which new editions are released — on average once every three years. Each new edition raises the book’s cost by about 12 percent, and makes older versions obsolete, meaning students usually can’t sell them back to bookstores.

Often, the changes made in new editions are minor, and are not necessary for students to learn the material, the report found.

Another problem is “bundling,” a tactic common in the publishing world, Smythe said.

With bundling, textbooks are packaged with ancillary materials such as workbooks and CDs. This increases the cost anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent.

Supposedly low-cost options such as electronic textbooks and looseleaf books aren’t good deals, because they provide students with nothing of value to sell back to vendors. Textbook customization and password features also prevent bookstore buybacks.

The OSU Bookstore, a nonprofit organization, works with professors to make sure students get the materials they need at the lowest price possible, said James Howard, textbook manager.

The bookstore calls every professor who puts a “bundled” book on his or her required reading list, and asks whether these extra materials are pertinent for the class. Stand-alone textbooks are less expensive.

The store also encourages customized textbooks only in recurring classes, so students can sell them back.

More than 40 percent of textbooks on the store’s shelves are used, Howard said.

The bookstore offers buyback opportunities at the end of each term. Last year, the store paid students $1.5 million for books it bought, according to Howard.

Also speaking at Wednesday’s forum were Jason Siefken, a senior math major, and Bob Burton, a math professor.

Siefken and Burton are developing a free online algebra textbook that students can use, print and even contribute to by making suggestions and offering clarifications.

OSU President Ed Ray said this project is in keeping with the university’s other open source efforts.

“We arguably have the largest open source lab in the world. We can become the open source textbook provider to the academic world,” Ray said.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.

To learn more

Student Public Interest Research Groups, a nationwide network of student advocacy organizations, recently released a report examining the cost of textbooks, “Required Reading: A Look at the Worst Publishing Tactics at Work.” For details, see www.maketextbooksaffordable.com.

More information about the OSU Bookstore, including buyback prices and textbook reviews, as well as a forum for students to buy and sell books independently, can be found online at www.bookstore.mu.orst.edu.