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A House committee spent more than an hour this morning questioning publishers and educators what they are doing to hold down the cost of college text books. Publishers said digital and web only apps have dropped overall costs to students by as much as 20 percent, but University of Florida Provost Joe Glover said students could save as much as half on books if lawmakers let Universities require students to buy books and make them part of their fees.

“If we can actually require all students to purchase a text book in a course, then in fact we have an assured volume of sales. And at that point you can go to a text book company and on the basis of an assured volume of sales, you can negotiate substantial discounts. Often times in the order of 40, 50, or 60 percent off the normal price” says the Provost.

Glover said UF had negotiated several good textbook deals for students but was told by the state that he had no legal authority to require students to buy books. Lawmakers encouraged him to help write language to change the law.