Webcast: History of College Textbook Prices: Examining Past Practices and Emerging Models

Watch the recording from our webcast held May 24th, 2022

It is well known that college textbook prices in the United States have skyrocketed for decades, at times outpacing even medical services and home prices. As a result, course material affordability and access has become an equity issue for a generation of students. However, in recent years the landscape has started to change, in part driven by the textbook industry’s shift toward the "Inclusive Access" model, which automatically bills students for digital textbooks. While these programs advertise many short term benefits, the industry’s legacy of rising prices makes it more important than ever to examine the long term implications.