A U.S. Senator recently introduced a bill that would expand college students’ access to free, online textbooks to ease the rising cost of higher education.
The Affordable College Textbook Act, proposed by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would create a grant program that would allocate funds to universities for the purpose of creating online materials as alternatives to traditional textbooks.
Durbin said in a statement that the bill “will help pressure the traditional college textbook market to come up with cheaper alternatives and innovations.” He introduced similar legislation in 2013, but it did not advance from committee.
According to College Board estimates, the average student has a $1,200 budget for books and class materials. Durbin said he hopes this bill will help reduce those costs, which he says are “often overlooked.”
Durbin’s bill could help UW-Madison students combat the rising cost of textbooks, according to Angelito Tenorio, University Affairs Chair of the Associated Students of Madison.
“We are spending so much, on top of tuition,” Tenorio said. “Hardcover books can be hundreds of dollars … The use of e-textbooks would make it that much more affordable.”
Tenorio also highlighted other ways the University Affairs Committee is addressing textbook costs at UW-Madison, such as educating professors on the rising cost of course materials and urging them to consider alternatives to traditional textbooks.
Tenorio acknowledged that Durbin’s bill may not pass a Republican Congress, but said, “that’s not going to stop us from trying.”
