Have you ever paid hundreds of dollars for textbooks at the beginning of a semester, depleting your bank account? With a simple signature, the governor of this state wants to help you prepare for such purchases ahead of time.

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed 20 new bills into law, all of which go into effect July 1. One bill in particular concerns Florida Atlantic University, as well as the rest of the State University System: House Bill 7019.  

Also referred to as the Education Access and Affordability Bill, HB 7019 will make it easier for students to find the cost of their books and other materials prior to the beginning of the semester.

Universities now have to post textbook costs and online links for at least 95% of courses, 45 days before the first day of the class.

The bill also allows the Board of Trustees of each university to work out a payment plan for students with the providers of the learning material, and forces the BOT to evaluate the cost of textbooks each semester.

The Board of Governors is also required to survey students, faculty, bookstores and publishers about the cost of the material and find ways that the university can lower the cost.

Nate Nkumbu is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @FoureyedNate.