Ivy Tech CC Providing Students Free Access to Textbooks Through Cengage

Indiana's Ivy Tech Community College has partnered with Cengage to provide all its students — numbering 90,000 across the state — with textbooks and digital course materials through Cengage Unlimited. The institution is using funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide the materials at no cost to students.

Starting on the first day of class, students will be able to access their Cengage course materials through Ivy Tech's learning management system; they will also have the option to rent up to four free hardcopy textbooks (subject to a limited shipping cost). In addition, Cengage is providing academic services and professional development to administrators and faculty to facilitate hybrid and online teaching, the company said in a news announcement.

"Ivy Tech faculty have always embraced innovative strategies such as online learning and eight-week courses. Our partnership with Cengage is another example of that innovation as it is providing enhanced faculty academic freedom in choice of course materials, while simultaneously reducing the financial burden and time burden for students to get course materials. This is yet another way that our faculty continue to meet students where they are and support their success in any way possible," said Kara Monroe, senior vice president and provost at Ivy Tech, in a statement.

"Research suggests that more than a quarter of community college students don't purchase books, typically, because they have other more pressing financial needs as many are low income, working in low wage jobs, and shouldering family responsibilities. And those statistics were pre-COVID," commented Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann. "We are pleased to partner with Cengage in offering free course materials across the college helping reduce the financial strain on tens of thousands of Ivy Tech students."

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • college student using a laptop alongside an AI robot and academic icons like a graduation cap, lightbulb, and upward arrow

    Nonprofit to Pilot Agentic AI Tool for Student Success Work

    Student success nonprofit InsideTrack has joined Salesforce Accelerator – Agents for Impact, a Salesforce initiative providing technology, funding, and expertise to help nonprofits build and customize AI agents and AI-powered tools to support and scale their missions.

  • server racks, a human head with a microchip, data pipes, cloud storage, and analytical symbols

    OpenAI, Oracle Expand AI Infrastructure Partnership

    OpenAI and Oracle have announced they will develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity, expanding their artificial intelligence infrastructure partnership as part of the Stargate Project, a joint venture among OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank Group that aims to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing capacity over four years.

  • geometric pattern features abstract icons of a dollar sign, graduation cap, and document

    Maricopa Community Colleges Adopts Platform to Combat Student Application Fraud

    In an effort to secure its admissions and financial processes, Maricopa Community Colleges has partnered with A.M. Simpkins and Associates (AMSA) to implement the company's S.A.F.E (Student Application Fraudulent Examination) across the district's 10 institutions.

  • human profile with a circuit-board brain next to an open book

    Georgia State U and Operation HOPE Program Fosters AI Literacy in Underserved Youth

    A pilot program co-led by Operation HOPE and Georgia State University is working to build technical, entrepreneurial, and financial-literacy skills in Atlanta-area youth to help them thrive in the AI-powered workforce.