Screwing Students Through Pointless Textbook Bundles
from the everyone-loves-bundles dept
While some schools and teachers are looking for ways to make education, and especially textbooks, cheaper for students, others seem bent on doing everything possible to keep prices artificially high. Because colleges essentially have the textbook market cornered, they can require students to purchase just about anything in order to bring in more revenue. Unfortunately for the students, this can mean increased costs and and annoyance with the process itself.Enter Luke Thomas, who had a very annoying textbook situation in an English class. All Luke and his wife wanted to do was take an English class together. They figured that they could get by with a single textbook between the two of them, but things in college are never that easy. You see, the professor for their class required a specific book, which he had authored, as well as an one time use access code to an online discussion board. However, the only way to get that code was to buy a brand new textbook.
My wife and I were taking that same class, and we were unable to purchase an access code without purchasing two copies of the book, which was very upsetting. I asked the individuals working at the bookstore if they sold unbundled copies of the access code, and to my dismay, they did not.Because buying two books for two people who lived together and took the class together was a pointless endeavor, Luke decided to take matters into his own hands. He contacted the service provider of the discussion board and was able to buy the code directly through them for $20 plus shipping. Yes, the code had to be physically shipped to him. Of course, this was an option that neither the professor nor the book store offered him to begin with.
As a former college student in this internet connected world, I am also aware of such shady textbook deals. One Trigonometry class I took required the purchase of a $75 access code to the online textbook and quizzes. While my course wasn't tied to a physical book, it did limit the end of semester cash that most students are used to getting as they sell off their books -- something that schemes like this do not allow.
Of course Luke didn't let it end with him just buying his code and getting through the course. He also spoke to the head of the bookstore as well as researched the law behind such bundles. What he found was a treat for any school or professor that would attempt to do something like this in the future:
After researching this issue, there’s a federal law which requires the unbundling of textbooks. How often is this law enforced? I have no idea…Wow! Wouldn't that be something to bring up to that professor and his supervisors? That is, if they will actually listen. However, there is also another path that might serve a student in getting a quick resolution to the matter of being forced to buy a new book to get such online materials: patent law. Perhaps this professor is unaware that his method of forcing students to buy a new book and prevent sharing has been patented. Wouldn't that patent showdown be a joy to watch unfold?
UNBUNDLING OF COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS FROM SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS.—A publisher that sells a college textbook and any supplemental material accompanying such college textbook as a single bundle shall also make available the college textbook and each supplemental material as separate and unbundled items, each separately priced.
Lucky for us, there are plenty of people out there looking after the plight of the poor college student. Luke takes the time to highlight a few notables out there.
It looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel, companies like Boundless Learning, Lore, and the plethora of ed-tech startups are seeking to disrupt these greedy giants. Go get em guys!With all the attention that high college tuition prices get in the media, one would think that the textbook industry would be a prime target for an area to reduce the cost of an education for students. Sadly, the textbook industry gets a pass by most budget hawks as they tend to focus the majority of their attention on the sticker price of college. If they would expand their focus they could probably see a lot of room for improvement in additional costs outside tuition. Until then, good luck paying for all those books you may or may not need.
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Filed Under: access codes, bundles, digital codes, textbooks
Reader Comments
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Back on topic though; the campus book stores are more of a racket than a service. They have you by the short hairs and know it.
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There are those who work toward creating a less educated populace, possibly the reasoning is that a less educated public is easier to rule.
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If one doubts the preceding all one must do is look at the elite who populate government.
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Just thought I'd point out a few things.
1) being highly educated does not make one "elite"
2) everyone is ignorant in their own way(s)
3) bigotry is not a subset of ignorance
4) politics attracts a certain type of personality
5) a better educated populace is better for the nation
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I'm 31 with 3.5 degrees and would go back to school in a heartbeat if it were financially feasible. But I'll be the first to acknowledge that college isn't for everybody, especially those taking $50K in loans to get a degree in art history only to find themselves working at Starbucks when everything is said and done.
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Conversely, an education where there is no intelligence to speak of is like a mine without ore-- expensive, very impressive if you don't look below the surface, and probably connected to government.
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these 2 are just the early warning system
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So a prof, or the college, decide which textbook(s) the class(s) need. Is it any surprise that they chose products from which they receive payment? How is this not a conflict of interest, a violation of their oath? I guess those ethics are only flashed around when it suits their purpose and ignored when they do not.
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Actual Human Prof.
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In the late 80's and before one of the most egress schemes there was the Florida Public Interest Research Group (FPIRG).
Initially all students were required to join the membership fee being automatically added to one's college tuition cost. No exceptions.
After several court cases one was allowed to opp-out. That is the fee was automatically added to the bill and was only removed if a formal complaint in letter form was submitted and approved allowing removal.
Later the system was changed to opp-in. One could request to join by simply checking a box to join, which most did due to the wording and format of the payment bill, not realizing that they did not have to pay several add-on fees.
Problem was that FPIRG was a very far left (almost communist similar to ACORN) political whose whole agenda was to place far left politicians in power.
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With this fucked up system it's no surprise why piracy is a good thing for poor people.
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So what they will do is offer the ala carte items like the access code for $1 less than the bundle price and your screwed either way.
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Nah, once you find law that supports you, it's time to go straight to their general counsel and say: "It's either give me what I want now or have a court tell you to give me what I want AND pay me a few thousand later, your choice."
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Each student needs a textbook, and each student needs an access code. Selling them together makes pretty good sense actually.
It seems more like the couple who were trying to screw the system by not paying for the course materials.
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Also - colleges aren't allowed to do that anyway.
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Hey, I live in the same house as my wife, and we only have one car, so I guess we only need one drivers license, we can share it, right?
Some things are a requirement. This is a course requirement. Next.
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I bet you buy 2 DVDs every time you watch a movie with your wife, right?
The only thing that is a course requirement (for a passing grade) is learning the material.
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> course requirement. Next.
Did you read the bit about the federal law which makes these kinds of mandatory bundles illegal? I would say the US Code is a pretty compelling requirement. Or are students the only ones who have to obey requirements?
Apparently requirements are only requirements when you agree with them.
Next.
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Who is this "system", what rights does it have, and how is it entitled to my money?
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I make recommendations for texts that I think provide particularly clear explanations of certain problems or that cover important things that I don't have time to cover in class. And the students who are genuinely interested in mastering the content often buy (and keep) these supplemental books. But I don't feel comfortable holding students accountable for material that I don't personally teach them. And, as a result, there is little reason for them to be required to buy a specific, latest edition of X with new color photos and secret web pages. Any relatively up-to-date book can supplement the course well enough.
I know there are courses for which this strategy would not work well (e.g., English Literature), so I wouldn't recommend this as a general solution to the textbook problem. But I would encourage other professors to think twice before "assigning" a textbook for a class.
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Let me tell you a good story
He teaches Biology... a required course there... and the textbook (which is fantastic by the way), is one that he authored....
At the beginning of the class - he has everyone in the auditorium line up, holding their text books... and everyone who has one, he hands them $3... which is his cut of the sale of the textbook...
So he doesn't make a penny off his own students. Still remember him 15 years later as one of the best professors I ever had.
- Peter
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Who's to blame?
From what I can tell, the book publisher is following the law perfectly by offering the code directly. It's silly that it has to be "shipped," but they're still complying. Therefore the book and code are available as unbundled items. I think it's reasonable for the publisher to charge something for access to the online forum, as undoubtedly it does cost them something to manage and maintain. (We can argue over whether it's worth $20 for a semester's worth of forum access since the true cost to run the forum is likely much less, but there is some cost to maintain it...)
I don't know whether the professor himself has any say in how the bookstore carries the book, or what the bookstore offers for used items... But my guess is that the professor doesn't have much influence. (If he does, shame on him.)
Therefore, we're back to the bookstore. Now, the law doesn't state that the bookstore must carry the unbundled version of the items, so I'm not sure there's any legal issue to discuss. (unless we can show some collusion between the bookstore and publisher for the bookstore to agree to not carry the unbundled items...) In any case, it really seems like the bookstore probably should bear the brunt of the blame for this situation.......
And to the chuckle-head who said that he and his wife should only need one drivers license.. Go re-read the article and think before you post. Nobody ever said that the couple should only need one access code.
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I have never heard of needing to buy two copies of a textbook to get one access code.
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Possibly, each student is required to submit their work online and the access code is used as a user id thus forcing one to purchase same in order to complete the course. Greed knows no bounds.
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I doubt they need to buy four books to get two access codes.
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it's an old scam
It disgusted me then that the university allowed such a thing to happen.
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They do it all the time
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Small problem there
A publisher must provide the unbundled items. It does not say that the bookstore must sell the unbundled items. Students do not typically buy directly from the publisher.
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Wiki Books
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