By Jessica Lee
Murphy News Service
U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) recently introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act , a bill to fight the increasing cost of textbooks and supplies.
Franken introduced the bill with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Nov. 14 after hearing from families about their struggles to afford college.
“When I hold college affordability roundtables around the state, I constantly hear from students and parents about how difficult it is to pay for college,” Franken said. “And in the fight to make college more affordable and accessible for Minnesota families, we can’t overlook the rising costs of textbooks.”
The costs of new textbooks has increased 82 percent. The average Minnesota student spends more than $1,400 a year on textbooks — $200 more than the national average.
The average Minnesota college graduate has nearly $30,000 in school debt, The Project on Student Debt website reported.
Franken, up for reelection in 2014, said it’s “simply unacceptable” that Minnesota students spend so much on textbooks.
“I was proud to introduce this bill, because its goal is to provide cheaper alternatives to traditional textbooks and ultimately help students keep more money in their pockets, where it belongs,” he said.
“Students in Minnesota graduate with the third highest average debt in the nation,” Franken said; adding that paying for college shouldn’t have to be that hard.
“This bill is an important step toward curbing the costs of textbooks, but it needs to be a part of the larger discussion on college affordability,” he said.
There are few options for students when it comes to finding affordable textbook options.
Having an open access textbook initiative program can help students save money on textbooks though. And as of last year, students at the University of Minnesota can now find cheaper textbook selections through the school’s Open Academics Textbook catalog.
Franken’s bill would help such programs.
Franken added that his bill would give students cheaper options when purchasing textbooks by expanding “the use of open access textbooks on college campuses.”
University of Minnesota student Kinsey Allen says she is in full support of Franken’s bill.
“As students we’re already worried about how we’re going to pay for college, and we don’t need the added stress of not being able to afford textbooks,” she said. “I think Sen. Franken’s bill is a great idea to help make college more affordable for students.”
Franken has been a strong advocate for making college affordable. Over the summer he voted to prevent an interest rate hike on student loans that would have impacted more than 200,000 Minnesota students.
He has also cosponsored numerous bills that aim for universities to improve and increase the resources and counseling students receive regarding their loan eligibility and the loans they have taken out. These bills include the Smarter Borrowing Act and the Know Before You Owe Act.
Franken said a hearing on the Higher Education Act, which oversees most federal student aid, will be held next week by the Senate Education Committee.
Franken’s textbook bill, he says, will continue to push several pieces of legislation he’s written to make college more affordable for Minnesotans.
Jessica Lee is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.