SPARC Filing Against the Merger Between Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education

On May 1, 2019, Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education — two of the three largest college textbook publishers — announced plans to merge. The merger would turn the college textbook market into an effective duopoly, dominated by the combined post-merger company and a single rival, Pearson. This merger would have drastic negative consequences for competition and student consumers in an industry that has already engaged in decades of relentless price increases that have made higher education harder to afford. Furthermore, as textbook publishers accelerate their transition to digital materials, a merger of this size could be a step toward forming a new data giant in the education sector. On August 14, 2019, SPARC submitted this extensive filing to the Department of Justice opposing the merger on the grounds that it would violate federal antitrust thresholds and harm the ability of students and their families to afford higher education.