A survey realized last spring by the Student Public Interest Research Group reveals that a whooping 70% of textbooks are deemed too expensive by students to the point of causing them to skip buying some books, which negatively influences their academic performance. Respondents blame “common textbook-publishing practices” for artificially inflating the price of books.

These practices include frequently putting out new editions and pairing books with extra items students don’t want. As a result, a student at a state college can expect to pay an additional 26 percent of whatever tuition is for textbooks, a percentage rising to an extra 76% of cost of tuition for community colleges.

The wave of textbook e-rental, joined by Amazon this summer and enabling e-renting text for a value as low as 20% of a new textbook, raised hope that the cost of acquiring textbooks might be substantially lower than it used to be.

Of course such a reduction in selling/renting price will negatively affect the profit margin of the textbooks publishers and authors. So, a new way of taking advantage of e-textbook to monetize the on-line new possibilities and create ways to coerce students into buying on line textbooks in order to access added value that will increasingly become indispensable.

These days many textbooks come shrink-wrapped, bundled together with access to on-line learning centers such as “myaccountinglab” or “iStudy.”

To students, these online resources look just like improved versions of traditional study guides — more questions, instant feedback, detailed and constructive hints and explanations.

These virtual addendums form the foundation of the publishing industry’s new business model. By making online assignments compulsory or counting towards final grades, academic professors can actually force students to purchase online assignments and quizzes.

This save hours of preparation and marking time to the professor. There is no need to come up with questions, spend hours marking assignments or entering grades. A few clicks are all it takes to set up an on-line assignment — everything else is done electronically.

Here is an example by Frances Woolley, professor of economics at Carleton University of the potential cost to the student of such a requirement to complete his srudies.

“Suppose a professor says on his course outline: “Students are required to complete weekly assignments on EconomicsOnLine. These assignments will count for 10 per cent of the final grade.”

The student has to buy a copy of EconomicsOnLine to get that 10 per cent. If the student has bought a new textbook, EconomicsOnLine will be included with the book. But if the student has bought a used textbook, or was planning to share a textbook with a friend, they have to buy EconomicsOnLine directly from the publisher. Such on-line packages typically cost about $50 to $70.

Now publishers’ love-affair with on-line assessment makes sense. Once the assessment tools are set up, they cost minimal amounts to run and administer. Every $50 copy EconomicsOnLine that’s sold adds almost $50 to the company’s profits. And if the on-line assessment counts towards the students’ grades, students have to buy the on-line packages.

From a student’s point of view, however, it’s as if the cost of tuition has gone up by $50. “

So, with the combination of access to e-rental book and the gradual inclusion of online quizzes and assignments in the curriculum material, will the bill for student end up higher or lower?