Multiple signs indicate that the cost of textbooks is inching down. According to new data released by CampusBooks.com, the average price of a textbook dropped by $10 between January 2017 to January 2018. Simultaneously, the National Association of College Stores issued its latest results from a twice-annual survey of college students in the United States and Canada and found that course material spending had shrunk by 31 percent over the last decade.
JoVE, a publisher of video learning resources for STEM topics, has introduced a new set of biology courseware designed to completely replace the traditional textbook.
A number of schools are turning to Cengage to come up with new ways to help their students gain more affordable access to their course materials. Recently, both Warren County Community College in New Jersey and the University of the Southwest in New Mexico said they would roll out the company's new unlimited subscriptions offering. At the same time, Missouri's Columbia College went public with news that it would work with the education media company to provide course materials to its students as part of a single tuition charge.
The U.S. Department of Education has finally made a move on its efforts to fund development of open educational resources. The agency issued a notice this week inviting proposals for an "open textbooks pilot program" with an Aug. 29, 2018 deadline.
Buying course materials is the No. 2 source of financial stress for students, after tuition, according to a new survey conducted by market research company Morning Consult on behalf of Cengage.
McGraw-Hill Education and Follett have concocted two new agreements. In the first, Follett's current rental offering will cover McGraw-Hill's new textbook rental program for copyright 2019 titles; in the second, McGraw-Hill's digital learning products and e-books will be incorporated into Follett's includED "inclusive access" program, which gives students access to their course materials on the first day of class.
A Missouri college has signed with Ed Map to embed digital curriculum into its courses to make the expense invisible to students as part of a new tuition approach. Columbia College, a private nonprofit college in Columbia, announced the partnership for its adult education and online education divisions. All course materials will be part of the tuition students pay in those programs.
The Physical Education Activity Program at Texas A&M University is incorporating digital textbooks to help engage students and prepare them for class activities. The course materials were created by Skyepack, a digital publishing company specializing in custom learning content that can be updated and adjusted on the fly.
Students at St. Francis College are expected to save an average of 60 percent on their textbooks, thanks to a new deal with online bookstore provider Akademos. Starting this fall, all course materials will be available via the Akademos platform, which offers new, used, rental and e-book formats as well as a peer-to-peer marketplace.
Indiana University is sharing lessons learned from its eTexts program in a free e-book titled eTexts 101: A Practical Guide. The book tells the story of I.U.'s own e-text experience, the economics of e-texts and campus bookstores, accessibility issues, communication strategies and more. It also includes perspectives from publishers and other universities that have worked through similar initiatives.
