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September 14, 2022 • 1 minute read
By: Mike Hale, Ph.D., Chief Learning and Content Officer

VitalSource has long been committed to increasing student success through easy access to affordable content. We also believe that if you can, you must improve learning for students and expand educational opportunities for all learners. Of course, we are not alone in this view and it is the reason many companies have built assessment-rich course materials. 

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Blog > The Real Impact of Equitable Access

September 9, 2024 • 1 minute read

The Real Impact of Equitable Access

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As many of you consider the future of your textbook program, I wanted to share some information you may find thought-provoking. In our 2022-2023 Impact Report, we share details about the third full year of our Equitable Access program at University of California, Davis. Highlighted below are some of the impacts the program had on our college store staff and our college store finances.

Staffing impact
A digital first course material program is significantly less labor intensive than a traditional print-centric model.  Here are a few examples:
  • No shipment tracking, no lost shipments, no damaged books, no returns, no receiving, one invoice versus hundreds, no waitlisting, no running out of stock, no under-ordering, no problem when sections are added.
  • When a faculty orders a book late, we can have it on Canvas within an hour or two versus waiting days for print books to arrive, be received and stocked.
  • No rental return and buyback labor needs.
  • Dramatically less stress to administer a course materials program.
  • Returns for added and dropped courses happens automatically via technology- no staffing needed.
Financial impact:
  • Market share has increased dramatically- current participation approximately 87% of undergraduate students.
  • Prior to EA, zero textbook grants were provided to students by the Bookstore. Post EA, the Bookstore has transferred $2.45 million to Financial Aid over the last three years and has provided 14,500 students with an entire terms worth of free textbooks.
  • No shrink, no theft, no overstock, no freight costs in or out.
  • Lower taxes- digital is not taxable in California, but print is taxable.
  • Bookstore is more financially stable today than it has been in the last 15 years, able to provide millions in annual support for our campus and still being able to save and invest in our future.

These are just some of the benefits our store has experienced implementing an Equitable Access program. In closing, EA has moved our store from a Blockbuster Video/Tower Records-like intellectual property distribution model where physical items are sold or rented at individual prices to a Netflix/Spotify-like intellectual property distribution model where digital content is distributed over the internet at a flat rate. Consumers rarely ever think they would prefer to go back to the Blockbuster/Tower model. We believe our students feels the same way about Equitable Access. The convenience of digital subscription is undeniable.

Editor's Note: This blog was previously posted in the NACS Community by guest-blogger Jason Lorgan, Executive Director of Student Affairs, University of California, Davis.

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