CALPIRG begins “Affordable Textbook” campaign - Highlander

On Thursday, Nov. 29, The California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) at UCR launched their Affordable Textbooks Campaign. The campaign calls for increased affordability and accessibility of course materials. According to Noe Torres, campaign coordinator for affordable textbooks, “the price of textbooks is increasing at three times the rate of inflation. On average, students spend $1200 a year and about 65 percent of students report skipping out on buying textbooks simply because they’re too expensive.” With the implementation of access codes, which give temporary access to course materials to those who purchase them, CALPIRG states that the affordability issue is growing. Torres continued, “access codes are essentially pay walls between students and their required quizzes, homeworks – they’re sold along with textbooks which not only make it more difficult for students to find cheaper alternative versions, but it also makes it more difficult when it comes time to resell those books and try to make some money back off of what you paid on them.” https://www.highlandernews.org/34276/calpirg-begins-affordable-textbook-campaign/