Spending too much money on your college textbooks? Soon you might actually get them for free!
A bill proposed last week would make some textbooks free to college students.
Supporters argue that higher education is essential to a thriving workforce and economy. An increasing amount of students are finding themselves unable to pay for the required textbooks each year.
Between the years 2002 and 2012, the cost of textbooks went up 82 percent, making the average cost at around $1,200 per year, according to the College Board.
Sentators Al Franken and Dick Durbin are the supporters behind the bill, named The Affordable College Textbook Act. Durbin proposed a similar bill back in 2013 but it was unsuccessful.
The Affordable College Textbook Act would allow any university in the U.S. to provide online textbooks to students at no cost. Universities and publishers would have other ways of obtaining the costs of the textbooks without affecting the student.
The goal of this bill is to lessen college costs for students so they are not in a large amount of debt come graduation time. If the bill passes it could save college students across the United States about $1 Billion Dollars annually.
