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Thanks to the California Public Interest Research Group, textbook costs may be a lighter burden on students next year.

Very few student campaigns are successful, which is part of what makes CALPIRG’s efforts so admirable. Despite student outcry, student fees are rising and expected cumulative progress is still in effect, but after this year of activism we will actually see lower textbook prices.

Publishing company Thomson Learning will allow professors to decide whether they want to order new editions or bundled textbooks – and offer unbound issues with fewer colors and graphics. And though the company’s representatives say CALPIRG held no sway in this economical change in status quo, it’s hard to argue that these changes would have been made so quickly without CALPIRG’s large-scale campaign.

And the buck-saving success doesn’t stop there – the Legislature recently signed a bill sponsored by CALPIRG encouraging state colleges and universities to adopt textbook rental programs.

CALPIRG has done a lot with those $5 pledges from students, so next time you see the charge on your BAR account, know that you’re paying for a student advocate group that fights hard and actually does effect change.

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