Publishers Offer Expanded Savings to College Students Through Digital and Other Low-Cost Options

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Aug 26, 2010, 02:52 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Students will have more low-cost textbook and course material options as they return to college and university campuses. From e-textbooks to online books by the chapter, to book rentals and customized curriculum, publishers are providing more efficient and less expensive ways for students to support their academic pursuits.

E-textbooks cost as much as 60 percent less than their print equivalent. Students can purchase more than 14,000 different e-textbooks directly from some publishers' websites or by going to CourseSmart.com. In addition to lower cost and anytime-anywhere access from a laptop or browser-enabled mobile device, e-textbooks offer search, note-taking, highlighting, copy/paste and print capabilities.

"By using technology, publishers are not only helping students succeed in the classroom, they're also lowering students' college costs and lowering the cost-per-pupil for instruction for colleges and universities," said Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for higher education at the Association of American Publishers.

Students also have the option to shop around on publishers' websites for their books in different formats, such as black-and-white, audio, paperback and three-hole punched binder editions. Increasingly, students can even purchase their books online, one chapter at a time. "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," Hildebrand noted.

Some publishers are also offering rental options for print textbooks, either directly or in partnership with online textbook rental companies. Discounts on rental textbooks range from 40 to 70 percent off the suggested retail price.

In addition to multiple formats, savvy students can now go directly to the websites of publishers like Bedford Freeman and Worth, Cengage Learning, CQ Press, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Wiley and WW Norton to purchase supplemental materials and homework solutions in various formats. On those sites 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 great return policies if a student makes a mistake or drops a course.

The Association of American Publishers

The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP's more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP's Higher Education group represents the needs and interests of member publishers who produce instructional materials including textbooks and digital products and services for the post-secondary educational market.

For more information visit: www.solutionsforstudentsuccess.org.

SOURCE Association of American Publishers