Editing Textbook (section)

==Higher education==
[[File:Programming language textbooks.jpg|thumb|Programming language textbooks]]
In the U.S., college and university textbooks are chosen by the professor teaching the course, or by the department as a whole. Students are typically responsible for obtaining their own copies of the books used in their courses, although alternatives to owning textbooks, such as textbook rental services and library reserve copies of texts, are available in some instances.

In some European countries, such as Sweden or Spain, students attending institutions of higher education pay for textbooks themselves, although higher education is free of charge otherwise.

With higher education costs on the rise, many students are becoming sensitive to every aspect of college pricing, including textbooks, which in many cases amount to one tenth of tuition costs. The 2005 Government Accountability Office report on college textbooks said that since the 1980s, textbook and supply prices have risen twice the rate of inflation in the past two decades.<ref name="College Textbook Prices Have Risen 1,041 Percent Since 1977">{{Cite news |last=Ben |first=Popen |title=College Textbook Prices Have Risen 1,041 Percent Since 1977 |work=nbc news |publisher=nbc news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/freshman-year/college-textbook-prices-have-risen-812-percent-1978-n399926 |access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref> A 2005 PIRG study found that textbooks cost students $900 per year, and that prices<ref name="GAO" /> increased four times the rate of inflation over the past decade.<ref name="ripoff-101"/> A June 2007 Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance (ACSFA) report, "Turn the Page", reported that the average U.S. student spends $700–$1000 per year on textbooks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archived: Advisory Committee for Student Financial Assistance (ACSFA) – U.S. Department of Education |url=http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509204934/http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html |archive-date=9 May 2012 |access-date=23 April 2016}}</ref>

While many groups have assigned blame to publishers, bookstores or faculty, the ACSFA also found that assigning blame to any one party—faculty, colleges, bookstores or publishers—for current textbook costs is unproductive and without merit. The report called on all parties within the industry to work together to find productive solutions, which included a movement toward open textbooks and other lower-cost digital solutions.

Textbook prices are considerably higher in law school. Students ordinarily pay close to $200 for case books consisting of cases available free online.{{fact|date=February 2023}}