What's New
Last year Congress passed HR 4137, the Higher Education Opportunity Act
(HEOA). Thanks to the efforts of Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois, the
legislation helps lower the cost of textbooks for millions of students
by requiring publishers to disclose textbook pricing and revision
information to faculty and requiring publishers to offer textbooks and
supplemental materials "unbundled." It also asks colleges to provide
the list of assigned textbooks, including prices, for each course when
students are registering for classes. Click here to download the
two-page overview of the provisions for affordable textbooks in the
legislation.
On February 23, 2009, the US Department of
Education began its regulatory process to determine how to implement
the HEOA. We are advocating that the Department run a full education
campaign to colleges and faculty across the country to ensure they are
aware of the new law and have the means to follow it.
Additionally, more than 300 faculty have signed a statement circulated by CALPIRG Students, expressing their interest in using free, open resources on the web. Read more about the Student PIRGs work to lower the high cost of textbooks at www.maketextbooksaffordable.org.



