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(KSL News) -- A consumer watchdog group is releasing "Rip-off 101", a study of the high cost of college textbooks.
College students are spending about $900 a year on books. That's 40 percent more than seven years ago, according to the Public Interest Research Group.
Their survey found half of all textbooks are "bundled", or sold with unnecessary study aids. Also driving up the cost are frequent new editions with essentially the same information.
But publishers say they're just keeping up with the times.
Pat Schroeder, American Association of Book Publishers: "You don't want to buy a five year old science book. You don't want to buy a five year old accounting book; everything changed after Enron."
Publishers say it costs a million dollars to produce a textbook, none of which they see when books are re-sold, on average, about four times.
One New York Senator is proposing a thousand dollar a year textbook tax break.
