Graph of rising textbook costs. Bailey, K. (2023). Adapted from Rise of textbook prices a result of economic factors, including inflation by B. Elliott. The Daily Tar Heel. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2023/08/university-inflation-impacts-update
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index annually measures the prices paid by consumers for various goods and services; it can be used as a measure of inflation.
Note that these values are estimated from the graph, which only provides precise numbers for the first and final years.
| Year | Index |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 100 |
| 2004 | 102 |
| 2005 | 105 |
| 2006 | 110 |
| 2007 | 115 |
| 2008 | 118 |
| 2009 | 117 |
| 2010 | 119 |
| 2011 | 121 |
| 2012 | 124 |
| 2013 | 125 |
| 2014 | 128 |
| 2015 | 128 |
| 2016 | 130 |
| 2017 | 133 |
| 2018 | 136 |
| 2019 | 139 |
| 2020 | 141 |
| 2021 | 146 |
| 2022 | 159 |
The movement to adopt open educational resources in higher education came as a response to increasing textbook prices. While students and institutions have found creative ways to save money over the years by renting, borrowing, or even illegally downloading textbooks, many of these options can still be very costly or, in the last case, dangerous. In addition, some textbook publishers have subverted these efforts by providing digital textbooks that require codes to access. In some cases, these codes can only last the students a limited period of time.
To put it plainly, if textbooks are too expensive, students won't buy them. If students don't buy textbooks, their grades could suffer. If their grades suffer, they could fail a class or even drop out altogether.
2022 Student Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey, Florida Virtual Campus
Course materials are vital to students' learning experience. After all, that's why we assign them. It is important that we offer students the means to access that important information and have the resources they need to succeed.
When students budget their semesters, the question of whether money should go toward food or housing or toward a textbook can be a difficult one to answer. Making this decision can lead to additional stress for students and their families.
Florida Virtual Campus. (2022). Student Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey: Results and Findings. https://assets.website-files.com/646e59f2d76c6e8c0c5223de/64de6132148ed7739bc186e4_FLVC%20Textbook%20Survey%20Report%20-%202022.pdf
Popken, B. (2015, August 2). College Textbook Prices Have Risen 1,041 Percent Since 1977. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/freshman-year/college-textbook-prices-have-risen-812-percent-1978-n399926
