Follett, Lumen Partnership Saves Students $4 million with OER-based Courseware
Partnership aimed at lowering costs and improving student success
WESTCHESTER, Ill., Feb. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 45,000 college students from 35 institutions across the country have benefited from low-cost courseware based entirely on open educational resources (OER) – the result of a game-changing partnership between Follett and Lumen Learning. Established in 2017 and aimed at driving affordability, student retention and academic success at institutions served by Follett, the partnership has led to a cost-savings of approximately $4 million in 2018, compared to what students would have paid using traditional courseware and textbooks.
Follett, the largest campus retailer operating more than 2,850 physical and virtual stores across the country, is helping to drive adoption of OER through its strategic investment and partnership with Lumen Learning, the leading OER courseware provider in higher education. Currently, Follett offers Lumen Learning's OER course materials to more than 1,250 colleges and universities where Follett manages course materials delivery and makes the courseware available through its includED™ program and Follett Discover™ infrastructure.
Lumen courseware curates the best available OER and adds timely updates, learning design, and technical support to OER, making the transition to open content simple, reliable and effective for faculty and students. Through the includED™ program, students pay low-cost Lumen course support fees ranging from $10 to $25, far less than the average cost of a commercial textbook.
Lumen's OER course materials offer significant cost savings to students compared to traditional courseware and textbooks, as well as day-one access to courses such as College Algebra, Introduction to Business, English Composition and much more. For faculty members, Lumen's customizable materials save time and effort as they transition courses to OER. Peer-reviewed research shows that students using Lumen-supported OER course materials perform as well or better than their peers using traditional textbooks.
2018 Highlights and Success Stories
- Salt Lake Community College, The American Women's College at Bay Path University, and Ivy Tech Community College each received a 2018 Digital Learning Innovation Award for courses that use Lumen-supported courseware.
- Southeast Missouri State University saved more than 2,200 students over $230,000 during the fall semester – the school's first semester using Lumen course materials, compared to what students would have paid using traditional textbooks. The school's math department converted 7 courses (including labs and a math placement exam) to Lumen's Online Homework Manager (OHM) platform.
- Ivy Tech Community College saved more than 10,000 students over $850,000 each term, compared to what students would have paid using traditional textbooks. The school uses Lumen OER courseware for 16 general education courses.
- Salt Lake Community College achieved a 22 percent increase in quantitative literacy pathway completion after converting all courses to Lumen OHM. Over 80 percent of the school's 9,000 math students during the fall semester used OHM.
- Cerritos College saw retention rates in its Business Administration Department increase approximately 20 points to 88 percent after converting to OER course materials and Lumen's Waymaker courseware.
- Florida State College at Jacksonville selected Lumen OHM to use with 1,200 students in four math courses associated with its OER degree initiative.
For more information about the partnership and Lumen's OER courseware, visit www.follett.com/lumen.
About Lumen Learning
Lumen Learning is a leader in the creation of well-designed and low-cost course materials using open education resources (OER). Lumen's OER course materials are engineered to improve subject mastery, course completion and retention. In 2008, Lumen provided support to 235,000 students at 200+ institutions using OER courseware to strengthen learning. For more information on Lumen Learning, visit www.lumenlearning.com.
About Follett Corporation | Follett.com
Follett Corporation is the world's largest single source of books, digital content and multi-media for libraries, schools and retailers. Headquartered in Westchester, Illinois, Follett provides education technology, services and physical and digital content to millions of students at 70,000 schools and more than 2,850 physical and virtual campus stores in North America. Through Baker & Taylor, Follett's reach also extends to the public library and global retail markets.
Media Contact:
Follett Corporation
Janille Likens
708-884-3552
SOURCE Follett
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