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New White Paper Reveals Key Insights on How College Presidents, Provosts and Chief Academic Officers Think About the Future of Bookstore Services and Textbook Delivery

  • 07/07/15

NORWALK, CT – Akademos, Inc. announces the release of a new resource for higher education administrators that provides a fresh perspective to the ever-changing landscape of textbook delivery and bookstore services. Based upon a recently fielded study of college presidents, provosts, and CAOs, Akademos’ latest white paper assesses critical issues including the impact of course material costs on student satisfaction and campus shop utilization, textbook affordability policies and programs, academic freedom, and student persistence.

The survey highlights that as textbook prices continue to climb, college and university leaders have seen the challenges in textbook delivery and bookstore services accelerate, including the following key findings:

  • 91% of administrators reported that high textbook costs negatively impact student retention and persistence
  • Student and faculty satisfaction with textbook prices remain extremely low
  • High textbook prices are driving a significant number (81%) of students to shop for books outside of the school-sanctioned store or worse, opt to not purchase required materials at all

Administrators are being forced to take a critical look at their current bookstore model in an effort to keep up with the demands required to serve student needs and improve student outcomes. For example, the survey reveals institutions that have formal textbook affordability programs report significantly higher levels of student and faculty satisfaction with regard to textbook costs.

“The survey findings show that college and university presidents, provosts and chief academic officers have become increasingly aware of the issues and challenges surrounding textbook delivery and bookstore services,” says Jonathan Shar, chief marketing officer for Akademos. “For example, 85% of respondents reported that they are involved in a textbook affordability strategy at their institution, but only 21% reported having a formal program to help faculty select high quality, low cost course materials, which is a driver of higher student and faculty satisfaction. We believe this data should be very actionable for most institutions and that the time to act is now. It is encouraging to see that institutions with active textbook affordability programs have seen positive results. We hope this White Paper will spur institutions across the country to critically evaluate their textbook and delivery services for the future.”

The full report summarizes responses to all questions asked in the 2015 CAO Survey, provides analysis of the results, and compares trends from the 2013 survey.

For a copy of the 2015 College President, Provost, and CAO Survey on Textbook Delivery and Bookstore Services White Paper, go to info.akademos.com. This White Paper is available at no charge.

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