Junior David Huber said when he first came to Ithaca College his parents wanted him to pay for his own textbooks. With textbooks priced as they are now, however, Huber’s parents have no choice but to help him pay for his books.

“I can’t afford to pay for it all on my own because it’s so expensive,” said Huber.

Huber is not the only one whose plans are impacted by these rising prices. According to the Public Interest Research Group, college students spend an average of $900 each academic year on textbooks. The group also said the prices of textbooks have risen dramatically, now three times as expensive as they were in 1986.

To counter the rising textbook prices, the U.S. House of Representatives Education Committee introduced a provision to the renewal of the Higher Education Act earlier this month, that requires textbook publishers to disclose information to colleges about revisions, copyright dates and other information regarding textbooks. This will help colleges make more informed decisions about purchasing textbooks, as well as produce less expensive custom versions without bundled materials like CD-ROMs.

Alexa Marrero, communications director for the House Education Committee, said allowing colleges to make more informed decisions would result in all-around lower textbook prices.

“I think college costs are something students all across the country struggle with,” she said. “By addressing the cost of textbooks, it’s another way to make higher education more accessible and affordable.”

Marrero said it is difficult to predict what impact the legislation will have on textbook prices but said the new provisions would make a difference.

Rick Watson, manager of the Ithaca College bookstore, said the bookstore does not decide what textbooks they order. The store only orders textbooks faculty members request for their courses.

“We don’t decide on the books we have to buy. … Could [the new provision] affect a faculty member and what they tell us to order? Yeah, it could,” he said. “It still goes back to whether there’s going to be enough stock of an old edition for a course, and because publishers stop making them when a new edition is coming, I don’t know.”

Louise Donohue, professor of modern languages and literature, said her beginning- and intermediate- level textbooks typically change once every three years and go up 10 to 20 percent each time they change. She said the changes were often only to the “fringes” of the book rather than the essential content.

“If I knew what the changes were and if I thought that my students could save money by getting an older version of the book that did not contain these changes — if the changes were only superficial — then yes, I would go with the cheaper book,” she said.

Watson said that even if publishers disclose changes made, they would still continue making new and more expensive editions of textbooks.

“It would be nice if [the publishers] explained to the faculty what the changes were, but they’re still going to push their new edition,” he said.

Betty Bauman, a junior music performance and education major, said while she typically spends around $600 per semester on textbooks, she spent more than $700 for her first semester at the college.

“I think that spending $300 a semester, every semester, would be a lot better than it’s been in the past, but again, I’m sure that every major is different,” she said. “Some classes require many books. It’s different for everybody.”

Junior Corey Deckler, a cinema and photography major, said his parents agreed to pay for his textbooks but were surprised and upset by the cost.

“They’re not particularly happy to be spending that much money,” Deckler said. “But they figure if they’re going to spend that much money on something like books, it’s worth it.”

Watson said the bookstore tries to stock used textbooks, which are 25 percent cheaper than new ones, but that alone would not solve the problem.

“We’re doing as much as we can to get used textbooks to save [students and parents] money, but the fact of the matter is, right now, textbooks are just very expensive,” he said.

Deckler said he knows students who try to avoid paying full price for textbooks and does not blame them. He said students are sometimes “really bitter” about how much they had to spend just to study at the college.

“I think that if the price of books were cheaper, it would help the morale of students, knowing that they don’t have to pay as much just to go to school here and for the supplies to do that,” Deckler said.