AB 2385: Public postsecondary education: textbooks.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4 segments of the postsecondary education system in the state. These segments include the 3 public postsecondary segments: the University of California, which is administered by the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, which is administered by the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, which is administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Private and independent postsecondary educational institutions constitute the remaining segment.

Provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to make them applicable.

Existing law urges textbook publishers to take specified actions aimed at informing students about, and reducing the amounts that students pay for, college textbooks. Among those actions, existing law urges textbook publishers to provide to faculty and departments considering textbook orders, and to post on their Internet Web sites, among other things, an explanation of how the newest edition is different from previous editions.

This bill would instead urge textbook publishers to post in a prominent location on their Internet Web sites, among other things, a detailed description of how the newest edition differs from the previous edition, as specified.