Five companies control the vast majority of the college textbook market, and it’s about to be reduced to four — here’s what that means for book prices
When Nick Sengstaken arrived at the University of North Carolina a few years ago to start his college career, he wasn’t thinking too much about finances. But money was soon on his mind. “When I came on campus I was a naive first-year who went to the student store, bought a bunch of textbooks and then had a massive bill,” said Sengstaken, who is now finishing up his junior year.
“The textbook market is already highly concentrated and this just takes it and puts it into fewer hands,” said Nicole Allen, the director of Open Education at the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition , which advocates for more open sharing of educational materials. “Students are already captive consumers in this and this would just make it worse.”
That’s because Cengage currently offers a service, called Cengage Unlimited, where students buy a subscription and get access to the company’s entire catalog for the period of the subscription, instead of paying for individual titles for each course. The company estimates the program has saved students more than $60 million during the 2018-2019 academic year.
In addition, Banerjee said the combined company will probably have a market share in the low- to mid-teens, which won’t be enough to “start dictating a market trend.” The merger is subject to approval by regulators. In some cases, professors and publishers have required students to buy a code that they use to access homework or other course requirements. Unlike a textbook, these typically can’t be bought used, rented or re-sold.
“Instead of going to a secondary market or buying the secondary materials at all, let’s bring down the cost to what you’re willing to pay,” Banerjee, the McGraw-Hill CEO, said. The company estimates that its inclusive access program saved students $55 million in 2018.
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