NEWS
Monday, February 2, 2014 5
Textbook prices are too damn high! (or are they?)
Despite student perception, an analysis shows that students are
not paying more for textbooks than students a decade ago
henry limheng › 2l student caucus
representative
A
s school returns for the Winter semester,
there are the familiar sights of students
trying to procure textbooks. It is not uncom mon to see posts on Facebook of students
both looking to sell or buy used books. Students also
have the option of purchasing new textbooks and
coursepacks from the MDC, now operated by the York
University Bookstore. While relative to tuition, the
cost of textbooks is a small expense; but in a world of
$23,599 tuition, every additional cost is of concern for
students.
The cost of educational textbooks generally has
nearly doubled over the past decade, out-pacing other
goods such as automobiles or food, according to data
out of the United States. A number of factors contribute to the high and increasing cost of textbooks: one
reason is that professors choosing textbooks are often
not aware of the price since they are usually provided
a free copy; and additionally, in Canada, foreign-published textbooks are subject to a 10-15% import tariff
because of provisions in the Copyright Act.
However does this trend of skyrocketing prices
hold for law school textbooks? The answer: not really.
Looking at a popular law school casebook, Cases and
Materials on Contracts, 5th edition (Waddams, et al:
suggested retail price $112, retails at MDC for $113.25),
the casebook saw only a 24% increase in price ($22)
since the year 2000. This increase is less than the
inflationary increase over the same period of roughly
30%. This means that students purchasing the casebook in 2015 are actually paying less in real monetary
value for the book than fifteen years ago.
Speaking with retired Osgoode Professor Paul
Emond, co-founder and President of Emond
Montgomery Publishing (EMP), the publisher of
the Cases and Materials on Contract series of casebooks, he does not see the “price-gouging” going on
that is often associated with the textbook market.
Addressing the increase in price for the various editions of the Contracts casebook, Emond explained:
“[EMP] has taken on added costs in introducing new
features such as e-book access and, new to the 5th
edition, links to CanLii of the full text of decision”,
features that Emond notes are not available from their
competitors.
The Canadian legal textbook market is dominated by three main publishers: EMP, LexisNexis, and
Carswell. LexisNexis publishes a contracts casebook,
whose 8th edition retails for $145. Carswell also publishes a competing contracts casebook, whose 9th
edition retails for $139.
The explanation for why law textbook prices have
remained relatively low compared to other subject areas is unclear; perhaps the tight competition
between publishers, and that most legal textbooks
used in Canadian law schools are domestically published, are partial explanations. In addition, publisher
tactics often maligned by students, such as yearly
revisions of editions and CDs with “extra” content, do
not appear to be readily used for legal textbooks.
In addition to the tight margins, textbook publishers also have to deal with increasingly priceconscious students who already engage in a robust
ê The typical law student bookshelf. Photo credit: Olya Senyshyn
The Price of Cases and Materials on Contracts Over the Years
Edition*
Publishing Date
Suggested Retail Price
of Harcopy version
2nd
2000
$90
3rd
2005
$96
4th
2010
$110**
5th
2014
$112**
* Historical data for the 1st edition was unavailable.
** Hardcopy comes with e-book access.
used-book market. Furthermore, initiatives such as
“book rentals”, where students pay a cheaper price to
rent a textbook for a term and then return it at the end
of the semester, with the book then rented to another
student, have gained in popularity. Though this has
yet to gain traction among law students at Osgoode.
EMP has explored additional methods of providing cheaper textbook for students. The publisher has
started offering some of its materials at cheaper rates
for e-book only versions, and even cheaper rates for
an e-book version that is only accessible for a 1-year
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