There's a bill in the General Assembly right now that would require professors to tell students in advance which textbooks they need to buy. The aim is to give college students more time to find the best deal for their text books.
Students say textbooks are expensive and think this is a great idea.
"It would help me a lot. I would save a lot of money," said a UVA student. "College students don't have enough money as it is. It's just ridiculous buying books; it really puts a hole in your pocket."
"Yeah they are pretty unreasonable as far as prices. It's definitely cheapest to buy them from other students or from amazon.com if you have enough time," claimed another.
Students also complained that selling books back is hardly worth the trouble because of the low rate of return. Virginia 21, the lobbyist group for the bill, says students pay on average $817 a semester on books.
If they try to purchase books ahead of time from a source other than the book store, it can take up to two weeks to receive them, leaving them behind in their studies. This bill would give them time to research other options and have the books in time for class.
The bill also prohibits publishers from offering kickbacks to professors for assigning certain books to their students.
