20 U.S.C. § 1015b — Textbook information

(a) Purpose. The section seeks affordable course materials by lowering costs and increasing transparency about selecting, buying, selling, and using them. It encourages faculty, students, administrators, institutions, bookstores, distributors, and publishers to work together while preserving faculty freedom to choose quality materials. (b) Definitions. “Bundle” means textbooks or supplemental materials packaged for one price. “College textbook” means a textbook or set used with a postsecondary course. “Course schedule” means an institution’s listing of courses for an academic period. “Custom textbook” means one compiled by a publisher at a faculty member’s or adopting entity’s direction; it may combine instructor materials, copyrighted publisher or third-party works, and institution-specific items. “Institution of higher education” has the meaning in section 1002. “Integrated textbook” means a textbook combined with third-party materials that cannot be separately offered by contract, or with materials so related that separation makes the textbook unusable. “Publisher” means a publisher of college textbooks or supplemental materials involved in or affecting interstate commerce. “Substantial content” includes new chapters, additional eras, themes, or subject matter. “Supplemental material” means educational material accompanying a textbook, including print, disks, website access, or electronic materials, that is not part of an integrated textbook. (c) Publisher duties. When giving course-material information to a selector at a federally assisted institution, a publisher must give in writing, including electronically, the campus-bookstore price and, if available, public price; copyright dates of the three prior editions; substantial revisions from the prior edition; whether other formats such as paperback or unbound exist; and each other format’s bookstore and, if available, public price. A publisher selling a textbook and supplemental material as one bundle must also sell each item separately at a separate price. As far as practicable, these disclosures apply to custom textbooks. (d) Course schedules. As far as practicable, a federally assisted institution must put the ISBN and retail-price information for required and recommended textbooks and supplemental materials for each preregistration or registration course on its Internet schedule. If no ISBN exists, it must give author, title, publisher, and copyright date. If disclosure is impracticable, it must say “To Be Determined.” If applicable, a written schedule must say the information is online and give the Internet address. (e) Bookstores. On request and as soon as practicable, an institution must give its affiliated bookstore the most accurate available subsequent-period course schedule and, for each course, the information in (d)(1), enrolled-student number, and maximum enrollment. (f) Additional information. An institution providing the (d)(1) information is encouraged to tell students about textbook rentals or used-textbook programs, guaranteed buy-back programs, alternative content delivery, and other cost-saving methods. (g) Report. By July 1, 2013, the Comptroller General must report to the authorizing committees^* on implementation by institutions, bookstores, and publishers, including schedule information, publisher price disclosures, bundled and unbundled materials and integrated textbooks, and institutional costs and benefits. (h) Rule of construction. Nothing here overrides institutional autonomy or instructors’ academic freedom to select materials. (i) No regulations. The Secretary^* may not issue regulations under this section.