With tuition and fees on the rise, many Miami U. students are more conscious about the cost of higher education. Even after semester e-Bills are paid, students can expect to spend hundreds of dollars on books.

The cost of books is not only a concern at Miami. Federal legislation has been passed “to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials.”

The mandate is part of a textbook provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. It requires that institutions disclose the retail price and the ISBN of course materials on student schedules. Faculty are required to select course materials sooner so that the cost of materials can be displayed at the time of registration.

According to university registrar Dave Sauter, the registrar’s office has been working with the office of the bursar, the office of the provost, the Miami University Bookstore, and the Information Technology staff of both the Housing, Dining and Guest Services department and the university.

Together, said assistant director of the bookstore Jim Simpson, these offices are trying to be “ahead of the curve” in upholding the new law.

“The general premise is tell students as soon as possible what the cost of the course will be,” Sauter said.

“We provided the information anyway,” said Simpson. But now, he said, they are providing it sooner and “making the flow to the website to order books a little easier.”

Although the law went in to effect July 1, the earlier timeframe for book selection at Miami will not fully take effect until Spring 2011, Sauter said, because there was not time for some departments and faculty to finish their book selection before the time of registration for fall 2010.

However, all books that have been chosen are currently listed on the Miami University Bookstore website. Links to the site have been placed on BannerWeb so that as students register for classes or view their fall courses, they can click to see the approximate cost of books. For courses for which book selection has not been finalized, the site says, “To be determined.”

Sauter said he feels the legislation has raised awareness about the cost of educational materials and faculty may give more weight to the cost of the books they require as they select course materials.

Simpson said that seeing the cost of books upfront may have more impact on some students than others. Some may opt not to take an optional class based on the number of books required or the cost of materials.

Junior Eva Stamm said, “I think that cost is less of a factor in choosing a class for me than the what the subject of the course is and who the instructor is going to be. I don’t mind having more expensive materials if the course is going to be more interesting and informative for me.”

Stamm said she does like the idea of knowing what books she needs sooner so she can purchase used books or order books online.

Simpson said one benefit of books being listed earlier is that the bookstore may be able to acquire more used copies of books.

While knowing the cost of books early may lead some students to look for books online, the university gives a disclaimer that the bookstore will not provide refunds for purchases from other booksellers even if students relied upon the information listed on the Miami bookstore website. The bookstore does not recommend purchasing books more than three weeks prior to the start of classes.

Sauter said it is too soon to assess what the results of the earlier book selection and display are for Miami.

“We’re all curious to see what happens,” he said.

Simpson said based on the volume of orders already in, he thinks textbook orders at the Miami bookstore will be higher this year than last year.