One of the important functions of this blog is following major trends in the college textbook publishing industry. There’s been a strong move toward providing multiple formats of textbooks for college students, especially digital e-book versions. Ideally, students can save money while publishers continue to make good profits.
The Association of American Publishers recently issued this press release about the various college textbook choices:
Diversity of Course Material Options Offers Savings, Discounts Up To Seventy Percent
Washington, D.C., January 4, 2010– This January, when students head back to class something will be different. They will still return to their dorm rooms, reunite with friends and acquire their textbooks, but their choices for learning and savings opportunities will be greater than ever due to the addition of e-books, no frills and low-cost printed texts, rentals and customized curriculum.
“Publishers are finding more solutions to meet three critical goals – to help improve student success rates, to provide a range of options that meet all students’ budgets, and to help schools control their costs,” said Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for higher education at the Association of American Publishers.
Students can save an average of $60 per title by purchasing e-textbooks, which cost less than new or used printed textbooks. Publisher Web sites and sites such as CourseSmart.com offer more than 7,125 of the most popular textbooks available. In addition to lower cost and portability, e-textbooks also offer benefits such as the ease of search functionality, note-taking capabilities and digital highlighting.
Students also have the option to shop around for their books in different formats, such as unbound, black and white, audio, paperback, and three-hole punched binder editions. Students can search publishers’ Web sites to find the available format options or they can discuss a custom textbook option with their instructor. For example, Wiley PLUS, offered through the Wiley Flex program and on its own, is as an integrated suite of resources that can save students up to 50 percent and, according to 75 percent of students polled, positively impact their grade.
Students can even purchase their books one eChapter at a time on www.CengageBrain.com. Buying books by the chapter is a great way to save and budget, and ensures students buy only what they need when they need it.
Some publishers are beginning to offer rental options for print textbooks. McGraw-Hill Education recently announced the first-ever direct working relationship between a publisher and textbook rental company. Partnering with Chegg.com, an online textbook rental company, McGraw-Hill has strengthened its ability to provide students with a wider variety of options to obtain high quality educational materials. Cengage Learning also provides students with the choice to rent textbooks at 40-70 percent off the suggested retail price, in addition to being able to purchase print textbooks, e-textbooks, e-Chapters and additional materials directly through CengageBrain.com.
In addition to multiple formats, savvy students can now go directly to the Web sites of publishers like Bedford Freeman and Worth, Cengage Learning, CQ Press, Pearson, Wiley, and WW Norton to purchase supplemental materials and homework solutions in various formats. There, they can often find discount codes and coupons that provide up to 20 percent off the list price, and perks such as free shipping and returns with great return policies if a student makes a mistake or drops a course.
How can all these different ways of delivering textbook content to students help instructors teach better? How will it affect college textbook publishers in the long run?
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