OpenStax College open-source titles will be
available to more than 3,000 college stores through its new distribution
partnership with NACSCORP, a subsidiary of NACS. The agreement provides stores
with low-cost printed versions of free digital textbooks produced by the
nonprofit publisher based at Rice University.
“As a trade association, NACS is
committed to the mission of making sure course materials and all aspects of a
higher education are more affordable to students,” NACS CEO Brian Cartier said.
“I’m proud to say that this new partnership between NACSCORP and OpenStax
College fully supports that mission.”
Printed versions of the OpenStax College
textbooks costs about $30-$54, but the agreement will allow those prices to
drop by around 2% by next year. Students will also save through reduced
shipping costs that are part of the deal.
“NACSCORP distributes to the vast majority of
college campuses across the country and many more outside the U.S., and they
are committed to making a college education accessible to as many students as
possible,” said Daniel Williamson, managing director of OpenStax College. “This
deal will make it possible for us to expand our reach but also to lower the
prices on our print books at the same time.”
OpenStax College has already published
seven textbooks that have been downloaded more than 500,000 times. Its seventh
title, Principles of Economics, is the first aimed at courses that normally
enroll more than a million U.S. students each year. The publsiher plans to
release titles in precalculus, psychology and U.S. history later this year.
“All our books are free online, but many
students prefer a printed copy, and thanks to our partnership with NACS, we
plan to do something next year that no major publisher has done for a
generation: reduce the price of every print title in our catalog,” said Richard
Baraniuk, founder of OpenStax College and a professor of electrical and
computer engineering at Rice.
