Colby Jubenville

Guest columnist

Colby B. Jubenville is the founder and the director of the Center for Student Coaching and Success on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.

For decades, consumers had little choice but to accept the out-of-control, rising prices for college textbooks.

The digital revolution changed all that.

Whereas consumers once had little or no recourse to paying whatever cost institutions of higher education and the billion-dollar textbook industry set as the price of required print textbooks, suddenly, choice did exist. It came in the form of easily obtainable, used and rented digital materials ordered online through outlets like Amazon or Chegg, or available through myriad privately-held textbook retailers operating in college towns across America.

So what’s the problem?

A new trend has taken shape, one that many colleges and universities are increasingly embracing, perhaps without a comprehensive study of the facts. Large textbook publishers -- the same companies that drove up book prices by more than 1,000% in the past -- have begun selling proprietary digital materials and convincing colleges, universities and even higher-education governing boards to institute new student fees to pay for access to their content.

Promoted under the guise of lowered prices, instant availability and the promise of greater student achievement, it has not just created a robust new revenue stream for publishers but re-created a textbook monopoly that by its very nature limits student choice and increases cost.

Key to the sales pitch is that recommended course fees added to a student’s bill will be less onerous than the list price of textbooks. Instead of an expensive $264.50 list price, for instance, publishers offer a fee of $138.10 for the same material in digital format -- ignoring the other, less expensive options such as rental or “Open Educational Resources” content, which are readily available for a fraction of either the list price or fee.

Many colleges, universities and governing boards -- all of which are quite familiar with the typical cost savings achieved through bulk buying -- have not surprisingly responded positively to the pitch, which mimics standard protocol in government purchasing and perhaps gives them the sense that they are earnestly trying to lower student bills.

This new business model, though, dramatically changes the way digital course materials are paid for and delivered. Not unlike parking fees, athletic fees or technology fees, these new textbook fees are generally non-negotiable and swell the overall cost of attending college since they are in addition to tuition.

Plus, paying for digital content that expires at the semester’s end virtually annihilates the used and rental industry, a key way college students recoup costs associated with the high price of attending college.

These new text fees provide a fresh new stream of revenue for higher education as well. Participating colleges and universities often depend on such fees for future development. For instance, bond issues floated to build facilities on campuses are often entirely based on future fees, which give them the ability to guarantee an income stream.

Getting a college education has never been cheap. Nor have the peripheral costs of obtaining the necessary course materials to learn. The real issue, arguably, isn’t the question of price or digitization. It’s really a question of ethos. And of choice. Specifically, who is controlling that choice.

Colby B. Jubenville is the founder and the director of the Center for Student Coaching and Success on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.