But probably the most dramatic cost-cutting proposal came from leaders of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, a two-campus system in the Silicon Valley. That district has adopted a policy to encourage the use of public domain materials on the Internet. It reflects a broader movement involving materials that can be used for nonprofit educational purposes for free. Academics commonly call them open educational resources. The movement has been backed by such universities as MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Yale, along with the Hewlett Foundation. "We want to change the question from 'How do you help students buy textbooks?' to 'How do we enhance student learning and student success?' " said Hal Plotkin, board of trustees president of Foothill-De Anza.
Panel studies high cost of college texts
With book prices often exceeding $100, an advisory group considers solutions such as using the Internet more as a free resource.
Plotkin brushed aside concerns that the spread of free learning materials could eventually undermine the ability of publishers and professors to bring out new, needed texts. "There's a future for enlightened publishers, but it's not a future of selling $150 algebra books," he said. "That's something we have to get away from."
Executives of publishing companies agreed that there might be a place for free materials that replace basic texts.
Sean Wakely, president of Belmont-based Thomson Arts and Sciences, a unit of one of the nation's largest college textbook publishers, said he could foresee "a hybrid situation" in which students would rely both on public domain materials but also instructional videos, case studies and online resources that they would buy. "We have to figure out a business model that would work," he said.
As for settling on who bears the blame for high textbook costs, speakers variously pointed to publishers, professors who order and write the books, and college bookstores.
"We're simply going to have to disagree," said Wakely, when asked pointedly by a faculty leader why textbook costs have risen far faster than inflation.
Wakely said publishers bear heavy expenses when bringing out new books, as well as for developing sophisticated online instructional materials that do such things as illustrate concepts in physics. "That has to be paid for somehow," Wakely said.
Congressional leaders, while drawing attention to the issue through the advisory panel's study, are not expected to call for legislation to remedy the problems.
States such as California, however, may be poised to take further steps. Steve D. Boilard, head of the higher education unit of the legislative analyst's office, cited proposals introduced this year to, among other things, increase financial aid stipends and require publishers to disclose their wholesale prices and the amount of time they intend to keep their products on the market.
stuart.silverstein@latimes.com
