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U Missouri System Gets 38 Percent Discount on McGraw-Hill Education E-Books

Students in the University of Missouri System have access to more affordable course materials, thanks to a new agreement with McGraw-Hill Education that lowers the cost of the company's electronic textbooks by 38 percent. The books will be offered through the university's AutoAccess program, which provides e-books through UM's learning management system as part of its Affordable & Open Education Resources initiative.

Materials in the AutoAccess system are categorized by two discount options: "savings" and "low-cost." The latter is defined as materials that cost $40 or less. McGraw-Hill Education is now offering its full higher ed e-book catalog through the "low-cost" option. Students can access the books they purchase for five years.

The UM System partnered with McGraw-Hill Education to launch AutoAccess in 2014, initially serving a single course section and 50 students. The program has now grown to 300 courses, 700 sections and 40,000 students across the university, saving students approximately $9.7 million to date, according to a news announcement.

"McGraw-Hill has been a trusted partner to us since the launch of AutoAccess, and the new initiative is the first of its kind in terms of offering so many high-quality, low-cost digital resources at such wide scale," said Sherry Pollard, director at UM System Campus Stores, in a statement. "We look forward to seeing the positive outcomes from this initiative and the wider adoption of AutoAccess across all four campuses."

"Adoption of free and affordable textbooks and course materials to reduce the cost of attendance for our students is a high priority for us," commented UM System President Mun Choi. "This partnership with McGraw-Hill Education is very innovative and timely. In addition to the cost savings, this program will provide improved learning outcomes for our students."

About the Author

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

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