The federal government has added a new provision to the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA).

The new HEOA Textbook Provision, effective July 1, requires college textbook publishers to provide professors and faculty selecting course materials written information regarding textbook prices, copyright dates and descriptions of edition changes.

Textbook Provision requires schools receiving federal financial assistance provide prices of textbooks used in each course with course schedules during registration.

“I think this is an attempt to provide more transparency about pricing and availability for students,” said Rhonda Winchell, marketing manager for University Press.

The provision mandates college textbook publishers provide the following items:  the price publishers charge campus bookstores, the price publishers charge the public, the copyright dates of the three previous editions, a description of changes made between current and previous edition and whether the college textbook or supplemental material is available in another format and the price of that format.

Publishers packaging textbook materials in a bundle will have to provide each item in the bundle separately, as well.

The law requires schools provide information for renting textbooks, purchasing used textbooks and other “cost-saving strategies.”

Winchell said publishers will have a little more work to do, but she’s confused about how the law will be monitored.

“The question I have and that’s one thing we’ll (U. Nebraska Press) have to take up is who are we responsible for giving this information to and in what format,” she said.

The U. Nebraska Press already provides a catalog with information on books and prices to interested professors, but Winchell said they might have to include the required information every time they send information about textbooks to professors.

The law requires the director of the Government Accountability Office report to the authorizing committees on the progress of this law no later than July 1, 2013.

A brief survey of about five professors revealed that professors are not yet familiar with the new textbook provision yet.

Some said they scope out textbook prices online and other professors said they advise students to shop for textbooks online. Online shopping for textbooks is ideal for nonscientific or mathematical textbooks.

“I don’t know if it’s going to make a huge difference,” said Thomas Zorn, professor of finance, about knowing textbook prices.

Zorn said he’s more concerned with the content of the textbooks and in his field, the textbooks constantly change.

Knowing how the editions changed would be helpful to professors, Winchell said. Professors will know whether to require the new edition or not she said.

As for how the law will affect the publishing business, Winchell said, not much.

“It’s just more information.”