PIRG studies have shown that the average cost of college textbooks per year is now $900. That's on top of rising tuition and fee costs. That Book Costs How Much? is the title of an editorial in today's New York Times. The editorial supports our Student PIRGs Campaign to Maketextbooksaffordable.org. We are working on college campuses to urge faculty to use Open Educational Resources, such as web-based non-copyrighted books. We are working in Congress to take House-passed affordable textbook legislation over the finish line. From the New York Times:

A study being carried out by the geographer Ronald Dorn at Arizona State University suggests that students who use free online textbooks perform as well academically as students who buy expensive copies from traditional publishers. Colleges and universities should take advantage of these new developments. Cash-strapped students and their families need all the relief they can get.