For Policy Makers

America’s publishers understand that today’s public and educational policy makers face an array of “pain points” and challenges.  With rising remediation rates, concerns are growing regarding student retention and completion. The affordability of college tuition continues to make higher education elusive for many students and, with the downturn in tax revenue, many colleges and universities are dealing with funding cuts and looking for ways to stretch their budget dollars.

Helping legislators balance budgets and improve student success

We invite you to participate with other legislators in an upcoming AAP “Legislator Connect” webinar to demonstrate how America’s publishers are helping faculty and students.

It will feature the latest teaching technologies, course materials and business models from some of America’s largest providers of education materials (Bedford Freeman & Worth, Cengage, McGraw Hill, Pearson, Wiley and CourseSmart.com). The webinar will showcase:

• Improving student success rates – grades, retention and graduation
• Lowering the cost per pupil for instruction
• Lowering students’ costs for course materials

Topics will include:

• New business models that enable institutions to cut the cost of course materials by 40% to 65%
• Impact of new technologies and course redesign on
• Student pass rates – 30% to 40% improvement
• Cost per pupil for instruction – an average 41% reduction

To register for an upcoming webinar or to learn more about you can request one, please contact Jeremy Steffens at AAP Higher Ed.

Improving student completion rates

Harnessing the power of new technology, publishers are creating new instructional tools to help college students complete their degree and do so more quickly.  When coupled with course redesigns, these technologies have resulted in a 34% decrease in student dropout rates, according to the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT).

These new teaching systems are adaptive to a student population with diverse learning needs, from advanced to developmental. They challenge and maintain the interest of the highest achievers and meet the needs of those less prepared for college courses.

Saving students and institutions money

The costs of tuition and room and board continue to climb but, according statistics from Student Monitor’s Lifestyle & Media Report – Spring 2011, students said that their spending for printed textbooks dropped 10% from the Fall 2009 academic year, and is down 20% from the Fall 2008 academic year.  Another report, the College Board’s 2010 Trends in College Pricing, found that “books and supplies” are the lowest expense for off-campus students and tied with “transportation” as the lowest expense for on-campus students. 

This is due, in part, to publishers’ efforts to offer cost-conscious alternatives such as custom editions; e-textbooks; unbound, three-hole punched binder editions; black and white; and books online one chapter at a time. 

To help lower the cost to universities and colleges, publishers have developed a series of new business models that enable individual institutions to pick the approach that best meets the needs of their faculty and students.  To read more about these business models and how your institution can save money while improving student success rates, click here.  Institutions are also cutting costs by coupling new course material technologies with course redesigns, leading to an average 30%-40%% reduction in the cost per pupil for instruction, according to NCAT.