Publisher Perspectives
12 Evolve your Approach to Access and Affordability: Cengage Perspective
Kelly Manuelidis, Senior Midwest Account Manager, Cengage Learning
Michael Hansen, CEO, Cengage
Part 1: The Inclusive Access Business Model
There is an educational solution that saves money, ensures greater preparedness, streamlines processes, and delivers results. A model that empowers faculty to teach with an eye toward students’ financial limits and equips learners with the resources they need to get all they can out of their courses.
Inclusive Access is a business model that integrates the cost of course materials, while delivering content directly and seamlessly to a Learning Management System (LMS) so students are ready from day one.
In 2012 Cengage and Indiana University (IU) set a goal to make learning materials more accessible and affordable for students while enhancing instructor access to high-quality materials of choice. Currently, around 15–20% of courses have adopted the Inclusive Access model, bringing overall usage from 9 classes in 2011 to 1,176 classes in 2016 — with more courses adopting every semester. The Inclusive Access partnership between IU and Cengage is working wonders, and it saved students more than $1.3M in 2016-2017 alone.
Note that inclusive access is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Instead, Cengage considers an institution’s appetite for digital adoption—then builds out a solution that’s uniquely suited for them.
Identifying your reasons for implementing an Inclusive Access partnership is step one.
What are the benefits?
- Students succeed with accessible and affordable materials on day one.
- Instructors are more effective with prepared students and integrated digital resources.
- Institutions thrive with improved student performance, retention, and graduation rates.
- College Stores get high sell-through, satisfied customers, and streamlined processes.
You should also consider:
- State regulations around course fees
- How you’ll get buy-in from your institution’s leadership
- Who on your campus can oversee the implementation and faculty training
- Communication strategy for rolling out the model to students and instructors
- Variety of materials requiring access
- Technology capabilities at your institution
- Process for overcoming obstacles
- Methods for evaluating the results post-implementation
Students should have access to high-value learning experiences, regardless of their financial situation. By lowering the total cost of materials and incorporating the costs into tuition, Inclusive Access dismantles this obstacle for students, decreasing their upfront financial burden.
In the Inclusive Access formula, affordability informs access and access informs achievement. The streamlined delivery model enables students to have all course materials in hand from day one, so students don’t just show up to class—they show up ready.
Part 2: Affordability is Only Half of What We Need
A leadership perspective from Cengage CE