Zaffirini-sponsored bill meant to make college books more affordable kicks in

Maybe the rip offs will subside a bit

Excerpted from The Texas Tribune
By Reeve Hamilton

Colleges and universities will be required — unless the college bookstore takes on the project — to provide a list of the retail price, authors, publishers and copyright date of all required and recommended texts for each course and disseminate them to students at least a month before the semester starts, allowing students time to find the best deals.

Higher ed institutions will have to provide students with information regarding programs that can cut down on textbooks costs, such as renting, buying used books or guaranteed buyback programs.

Publishers will be required to provide faculty members with information including the actual substance of changes made to each new edition of a textbook and the time between previous editions. Those that offer textbook bundles will also have to provide each item in the pack individually.

The bill sailed through the Legislature with the support of students and booksellers alike. But students heading off to college this fall need not get too excited about scouring the university-provided list and selecting their courses based on which offers the most affordable, unbundled textbook options.

Though the law is effective at the start of next month, part of that law includes the following: "applies beginning with the 2012 fall semester.