Is Your Bookstore Model Holding Your Institution Back?

Facilitators:

• Dan Phelan, President, Jackson College
• Dave Sherwood, CEO and Co-founder, BibliU

Discussion Topic:

Join us for an interactive CEO-only discussion to explore different business models in delivering course materials to students to tap into new revenue sources while promoting student success. This discussion will be led by AFIT members Dr. Dan Phelan, President of Jackson College and Dave Sherwood, CEO and Co-founder of BibliU, a learning enablement platform that empowers higher education institutions to streamline their textbook and courseware workflows to achieve greater student outcomes, affordability, and social mobility.

Attendees will have a chance to participate in an interactive idea exchange and gain access to some of the resources that Dan and Dave will share during the session.

Why this topic? Why now?

The cost of course materials impacts an institution’s enrollment and retention. It is a significant portion of the cost of attendance, especially in public two-year institutions where the cost of textbooks is equivalent to 39% of the tuition fee. As a result, nearly seven out of 10 students do not purchase their textbooks due to cost. 

In 2022, college textbook sales are down by 35% compared to 2013. It was the lowest annual revenue in this sector over the last nine years, excluding the pandemic-affected 2020.

There is hope though. A growing number of institutions have addressed affordability of course materials through programs that digitize delivery of course materials and ensure day one content. To cite some recent findings:

• 39% of students have acquired materials through Inclusive Access (IA) or Equitable Access (EA) models, up from 15% in 2019

• There are 7x more publishers participating in IA programs than pre-pandemic, bringing the number to 341

• The increase in participating publishers has resulted in an average of 23% savings from the digital list price in an IA program

• Faculty using Open Education Resources (OER) grew from 33% to 40% 

• Two out of 10 institutions are now operating either a solely virtual store through eCommerce, IA or EA, thereby eliminating the physical footprint of their campus store. The remaining eight out of 10 institutions operate a hybrid physical and virtual store.

Recommended Resources:

• How The Current Bookstore Model Is Holding Your Institution Back (bibliu.com)
• What To Look For in a University Bookstore Alternative (bibliu.com)