Gov. Rod Blagojevich is calling on the Illinois Board of Higher Education to investigate why Illinois college students pay so much for textbooks.

The governor’s concern is if book prices keep rising, students will be forced out of the classroom.

The price of college textbooks has gone up 35 percent since 1998, which is 17 percent more than an ordinary book over the same period, according to a release from Blagojevich’s office.

Wholesale prices are set by textbook publishers and do not represent an increase by college bookstores. The average annual increase over that period was 5.9 percent for college texts compared to an average annual increase of 3.1 percent for other books.

At NIU, book prices have increased the past five to six years, said Mitch Kielb, associate director for the University Bookstore, mainly because of CD-ROMs and packages included with books. The main issue of Blagojevich’s investigation is related to how often students are using these expensive books, Kielb said.

“We have more than 100 books that are more than $100,” Kielb said.

The College of Engineering has the most expensive books because it has unique disciplines, Kielb said.

Kielb said students can do something about textbook prices and usage.

“That is why our store has a survey online where students can give us feedback of how much they used their book,” Kielb said. “We forward the survey to professors.”

In the past five years, book edition turnovers have increased because an updated edition is introduced in the market, Kielb said.

“That is why we give professors the alternative to use their own blocknotes,” Kielb said.

Psychology 102 uses other alternatives, Kielb said. It places a bid in the market to have an agreement with the publisher to have a certain number of chapters within the book.

More than 200 courses on campus have adopted the system, Kielb said.

Although some universities provide rental opportunities for their students, it is not a good solution for NIU, Kielb said, because NIU would have to stay with the same book edition for five years.

“A lot of times, we got ripped off because we are stuck with books that are not part of our major,” sophomore accountancy major Emily Montgomery said.

Online trade is a good choice, accountancy professor David Keys said. Book prices are an issue for students, so the best choice is to buy directly from a student or online to find the best price, he said.