HowMuchAreUConnStudentsSpendingon

Textbooks?

StudentSurveyResultsofTextbookPrices

ErinMcConnell

AffordableTextbooksCampaign

ConnecticutPublicInterestResearchGroupStudents

UniversityofConnecticut,Storrs

2

TableofContents

Introduction 3

KeyFindings

MoneySpentonTextbooks 6

TextbooksPurchasedbutNeverUsed 7

TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAid 8

StudentComments 9

HistoryofOER 10

CalltoAction 11

ThankYou’s 11

Acknowledgements 12

3

Introduction

Purpose ThepurposeofthisreportistoreportthefindingsfromUConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignSurveyfromSpring2017.UConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignconductedaUConn-widestudentsurveyaskingstudentshowtextbookpricesaffectthem. Methodology ThesurveywasassessedonaGoogleformaccessiblebyanyUConnemailwithaccesstothelink.WepostedthesurveyontheUConnBuyorSellTicketspageonFacebookandtheUConnDailyDigest.Wetabledatseveraldininghallsthroughoutthesemesteraskingstudentstofilloutourquicksurvey.Bycompletingthesurvey,studentswereautomaticallyenteredtowinadoor-prizeofoneoftwo$25Amazongiftcards.QuestionswerecreatedbytheAffordableTextbooksCampaignteaminpartnershipwiththeOpenEducationalResourcesLibrarianfromtheUConnLibrary,KathyLabadorf. WhotookthesurveyThedatacollectedcomesfrom912surveys.About60%ofstudentswhotookthesurveywerefreshmanandsophomoresatthetimeofthesurvey.

College/School EnrollmentPercentageatUConnCollegeofLiberalArtsandSciences

(CLAS)43%

SchoolofEngineering 19.7%SchoolofNursing 2.5%

NeagSchoolofEducation 1.6%SchoolofBusiness 13.1%SchoolofFineArts 10.4%

CollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResources

9.6%

SchoolofPharmacy 0.1%

4

459

160

33 22

89

26

101

22

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

Num

bero

fStude

nts

College/School

BreakdownbyCollege/School

172

197

259271

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Num

bero

fStude

nts

2017

BreakdownbyGraduationYear

2018 2019 2020Year

05

10152025

Num

bero

fStudn

ets

Major

SchoolofBusinessBreakdown

5

6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60ActuarialScien

ce

Anthropo

logy

AppliedMathe

maticalScien

ces

BiologicalScien

ces

Biology

Germ

an

Chem

istry

CognitiveScien

ce

Commun

ication

Econ

omics

Spanish

EcologyandEvolutionaryBiology

English

En

vironm

entalScien

ce

Environm

entalStudies

Geoscien

ce

History

HumanDevelop

men

tand

Fam

ily

HumanRights

Individu

alize

dMajor

Linguistics

Mathe

matics

Molecularand

CellBiology

Philosoph

yPh

ysics

Physiologyand

Neu

robiology

PoliticalScien

ce

Psycho

logy

Sociology

Speech,LanguageandHe

aringSciences

Statistics

Urbanand

Com

mun

ityStudies

Wom

en's,Gen

der,&SexualityStud

ies

Num

bero

fStude

nts

Major

CLASBreakdown

05

1015202530354045

Num

bero

fStude

nts

Major

CollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesBreakdown

7

KeyFindings

MoneySpentonTextbooks

Justover50%ofstudentsreportedthattheyhavespentbetween$101and$300ontextbookshereatUConnduringtheSpring2017semesterwhile25%havespentbetween$301and$600.ThelowestspendingontextbookswasfromtheSchoolofBusiness,whiletheCollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesusuallyspentbetween$201and$400.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

$0-100 $101-200 $201-300 $301-400 $401-500 $501-600 Morethan$601

Num

bero

fStude

nts

DollarsSpent

MoneySpentonTextbooksforUConn

8

TextbooksPurchasedbutNeverUsedJustover90%ofstudentsreportedthattheyhaveboughttextbookshereatUConnandneverusedsomeormostofthem.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

None Some Most All

Num

bero

fStude

nts

TextbooksPurchased

TextbooksPurchasedButNeverUsedforUConn

9

TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAid82%ofstudentsreportedthatnoneoftheirtextbookcostsarecoveredbyfinancialaidhereatUConn:thefullburdenofthecostoftextbooksisfallingentirelyonthestudent.WithOpenEducationalResources,thisburdenwillgodownimmensely,andstudentswon’tfeelasthoughthey’respendinghalftheirbankaccountontextbooks.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

None Lessthan25% 26%-50% 51%-75% 76%-99% Allofmytextbooks(100%)

Num

bero

fStude

nts

PercentageCovered

TextbookCostsCoveredbyFinancialAidforUConn

10

Whilemanystudentschoosetonotbuytextbooksatalland/ordropcoursesthatrequiretopurchaseatextbook,about55%ofstudentsfindtextbookstobethemostbeneficialstudyaid.Thecostoftextbookshascausedabout55%ofstudentstonotpurchaseabookatalleventhoughitwasreportedtobeoneofthebeststudyaids.Evenifstudentsfindthetextbooktobethemostbeneficialresource,thecoststilldrivesmanystudentsnottobuythebook.Thiscouldhaveanegativeimpactontheirgrades.About25%ofstudentseitherdrop,withdraw,orchoosenottoenrollincertainclassesduetotextbookcosts.

StudentComments

“Wedefinitelyneedmoreopensourcetextbooks–thecostoftextbooksisridiculousandtheopensourcebooksI’veusedarejustasgood.”–AnnieR.,Biology‘19 “WouldlovetoseeteachersusethisOpenEducationResourcebecauseitwouldsavemesomuch,helpmelearn,andearnahighergrade.”–ToriM.,AlliedHealthSciences‘19 “Expensivetextbooksmakeitverydifficultforstudentstosucceed.Oftentimes,IamworriedthatIwillnotbeabletoaffordmybooks,andifitweren’tforfinancialaid,Iwouldn’tbeabletobuyanyatall.”–KaitlinG.,Communications‘18 “Professorsneedtoatleastmakeclearhowvaluableatextbookis,becausemanyclasses,I’vedonefinewithonlyreadingmaybetwochaptersina$200textbook(whichisfrustrating).”–EmilyG.,PNB&Anthropology‘18 “Thecostoftextbooksinhibitsastudent’sabilitytolearn.Atrueeducationalinstitutionwoulddoeverythingintheirpowertomakelearningaffordableandareasonablecost.”–ChrissyL.,Nursing‘17 “Itwouldbeveryhelpfultogetmoreprofessorsonboardwiththis,becausemanyofthemarerepublishingtheirtextbooksforanewedition,soit’sdifficulttogetcheaperversionsofthebooks.”-KonatsuS.,‘18

11

HistoryofOERatUConnIn2015,UConnPIRGpartneredwiththeUndergraduateStudentGovernment(USG)inanefforttopromotetheuseofOpenTextbooksatUConn.Ataskforceofstudents,administrators,academicstaff,faculty,andlibrariansformedtoexploreAffordableTextbooks.Becauseofthisstrongadvocacy,statelegislationsupportingopentextbookspassedandtheUniversitySenatepassedaresolutioninsupportoftheOpenTextbookInitiative.Additionally,thistaskforcereceivedan18-monthgrantofnearly$100,000tointroduceopentextbookstoUConn.Thelibraryattheuniversityleadanefforttosurveyfacultyaboutopentextbookuse,createdonlineworkshopsforfacultydevelopment,andadaptedanexistinggeneralchemistrytextbook.Sincethen,theOERinitiativehasimpactedseveralthousandstudentstoincreaseaffordabilityoftextbooks.TheOpenStaxChemistrytextbook,revisedbyDr.EdwardNethfromUConn’sChemistrydepartment,hasbeenusedbymorethan2,000studentsandhassavedthemover$200,000.Manyfacultymembershaveredesignedtheircoursestomakematerialseithernocostormoreaffordable.InSeptember2016,theUConnCo-opgiftedthelibraryatUConn$300,000forthefuturedevelopmentofOERoncampus.Grantshavebeenawardedto15facultymembersthusfar. HistoryofOERNationallyAsfornationalOERwork,theStudentPIRGsaroundthecountry,formorethanadecade,haveexposedpublishinggiantswhojackuptextbookpricesyearafteryear,recommendedcost-savingtextbookoptionstostudentslikeusedbooksandrentals,andadvocatedforopentextbooksastheanswertotheproblemofever-risingtextbookcosts.Over3,000professorsacrossthecountryhavesignedastatementinsupportforopentextbookadoption.Manycollegesanduniversitieshavelaunchedtheirowncampusprogramsforencouragingopentextbookuse,suchasUMassAmherstandRutgersUniversity.TheStudentPIRGshavealsopublishedmorethan14reportsdiscussingtheproblemswithtraditionaltextbooksandhowopentextbooksarethesolution.Over38,000studentsand137collegesuseOER,withsavingstostudentsaddingupto$3.8million.

12

CalltoActionOursurveyshowsthatUConnstudentsarebeingforcedtomakehardchoicesintheirpursuitofanA.Ifmorethanaquarterofourpeersaredroppingcoursesduetotextbookscosts,itbecomesevenharderforthemtosucceedinclass.WefoundthatstudentsintheCollegeofAgriculture,Health,andNaturalResourcesandtheCLASareshoulderingahugecost.Giventhatahugenumberofstudentssaythattheyarenotactuallyusingtheirentiretextbook,itisclearthatexistingmaterialsarenotmeetingstudentneeds.Wearecallingonallfaculty–butparticularlytheseexpensiveschools–toturntoopentextbooksasanalternative. ThankYou’sUConnPIRG’sAffordableTextbooksCampaignwantstothankallprofessorswhoarealreadyontheOERInitiative.Theseprofessorsare: • Dr.AlexiaSmith,Anthropology• EmmaBojinova,AgricultureandResourceEconomics• AstronomersKateWhitaker,JonathanTrump,andCaraBattersby,Physics• LoisLakeChurch,English(UConnWaterbury)• ShanePeterson,GermanFilmStudies• OwenSvalestadandDerekJohnson,Economics• DrewJaramilloandAmitSavkar,Pre-Calculus• Dr.KimberliTreadwell,Psychology(UConnWaterbury)• Dr.EdwardNeth,Chemistry• JosephDePasquale,Chemistry• Dr.EllenCarillo,English(UConnWaterbury)• DoctoralcandidateCanerHazar,Sociology• AmbarSenguptaandAlexanderTeplyaev,Mathematics• AdamGiambroneandErinRizzie,Mathematics• JamieVaudrey,MarineSciences(UConnAveryPoint)• Dr.ChallaKumar,Chemistry• Dr.DavidMiller,retired• Dr.NinaStein,Chemistry(UConnWaterbury)• Dr.JasonOliverChange,HistoryandAsianAmericanStudiesLastly,wewanttothanktheUConnLibraryandtheOpenTextbookInitiativeTeam,bothofwhichhavebeenbigadvocatesforandabighelpwiththeworkUConnPIRGisdoingonitsAffordableTextbooksCampaign.

13

AcknowledgementsThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution4.0InternationalLicense.Toviewacopyofthislicense,visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Tocite,youmayattributeauthorshiptoConnPIRGStudents(2018).TheConnecticutStudentPublicInterestResearchGroup(ConnPIRG)isanindependentstatewidestudentorganizationthatworksonissueslikeenvironmentalprotection,consumerprotection,andhungerandhomelessness.Wehavethreefee-fundedchaptersinConnecticut,UConnStorrs,UConnHartford,andTrinityCollege.Formorethan40years,ourstudentsandstaffhavebeenmakingarealdifferenceinpeople’slivesandwinningconcretechangestobuildabetterworld.OneofourcampaignscontinuestobetheAffordableTextbookscampaignwherewehavehadsuccessbothatthelocallevelandthenationallevel. Theteaminvolvedinwritingthisreportandcollectingsurveysare: • TheAffordableTextbooksCampaign2018

• KharlReynado,campaigncoordinator • CaseyTortal,campaignmember • ErinMcConnell,reportcoordinator • DeevenaAnnavarjula,presentationcoordinator • MorganRhinehart,visualaidscoordinator

• TheAffordableTextbooksCampaign2017• SamanthaRojas • VasilikaPapas • ArifPrabawa • SamanAzimi

• KathyLabadorf,theOpenEducationalResourcesLibrarianfromtheUConnLibrary

• KaitlynVitez,theHigherEducationAdvocateforU.S.PIRG• ArielleMizrahi,thecampusorganizeratUConnStorrs