How much do students pay for textbooks at GSU? | Andrew Wheeler

This blog presents a cost-saving initiative at Georgia State University (GSU) to reduce student textbook expenses by analyzing course materials and advocating for institutional reforms. Using scraped enrollment and bookstore data, the author’s team identified high-cost textbooks, such as a Pearson Algebra text costing students over $300,000 annually, and proposed transitioning to library-licensed or open-access alternatives. Their analysis highlights opportunities for bulk licensing deals with academic publishers (e.g., $1,000 institutional licenses replacing $30 individual purchases) or investing in faculty-created open materials, particularly for high-enrollment courses like math. The post also critiques exploitative practices, such as professors requiring self-published textbooks (e.g., a $100 Excel guide for 800 business students), which generate personal profit but lack oversight. Emphasizing GSU’s status as a low-income-serving institution, the author argues universities could market no-cost materials as both equitable and financially strategic while urging administrators to curb profiteering. The project includes publicly available dashboards and datasets to support replication at other institutions, inviting collaboration to expand cost-saving efforts beyond GSU.