Senators Seeks DOJ Scrutiny of Textbook Merger

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) wrote Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, to raise concerns regarding the proposed merger between Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education. “Approval of this merger risks further consolidation of an already concentrated market at the expense of students’ pocketbooks, personal data, and educational outcomes,” the senators wrote.

Students at four-year public colleges may spend as much as $1,200 on textbooks and supplies per year. Textbook prices rose 82 percent from 2002 to 2012 while overall consumer prices rose only 28 percent during that same time period. Further consolidation of the textbook industry would create a duopoly of two massive companies with enhanced market power and strong incentives to collude rather than compete. Meanwhile, students have extremely limited choices when assigned a textbook – further restraining competition in the market.

The senators noted, “The combination of high concentration, a history of skyrocketing textbook prices that far outpace inflation, and a captive market makes this anti-competitive merger one that risks further aggravating the affordability of education.”

The full text of the senators letter is available here.

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