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Franken: Avg. College Student Spent $1,200 On Textbooks In 2016

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Sen. Al Franken is looking to lower the cost of college courses by putting more textbooks online.

He says the average college student spent more than $1,200 on books and classroom supplies last year.

According to research, 65 percent of students say they've skipped buying a coursebook because of the cost.

One solution Franken proposed is through the "Affordable College Textbook Act," which would to create and expand introductory level college textbooks available online.

Students from nine colleges and universities across the country have saved $1.5 million in textbook costs by adopting open textbooks, according to the University of Minnesota's Open Textbook Network.

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