By Katelyn Handler, Student Engagement and Instructional Design Librarian, Grand View University
The Situation
If you work in higher education, you likely realize that the sharply-rising cost of textbooks presents a major challenge for students and educators. Some students will choose to forgo purchasing books in efforts to save money, which in turn often leads to worse academic performance for those students and frustration for instructors. Although most stakeholders in higher education agree that the cost of textbooks presents a major challenge for institutions, there are disagreements among faculty, librarians, and administrators as to how best to tackle this challenge. One of the approaches to address the problem has been through inclusive access. Inclusive access, a system in which students are automatically billed for digital textbooks and other course materials at a discounted rate due to a course- or institution-wide partnership with publishers and textbook providers, has made significant gains across the country at a variety of higher education institutions, but also has significant drawbacks.
The Problem
On the surface, when a campus moves to an inclusive access model for textbooks, it can seem to eliminate many problems while also providing benefits, such as increased revenue for a campus bookstore, but as noted there are also downsides, primarily for students. In order for publishers to turn a profit under inclusive access, most students need to participate; when they opt out, publishers lose money. Those who disagree with the inclusive access model have pointed out that it isn’t accurate to portray inclusive access as always presenting significant savings for students, as it precludes numerous other options that might be cheaper than licensed content from a publisher: buying texts secondhand, sharing texts with a classmate, or using OER or other resources that are free to use. In response to some of these drawbacks, in 2024 the Biden administration attempted to roll back policies from earlier administrations that championed inclusive access, instead recommending an opt-in model that inclusive access proponents argued would break the system, despite the model being implemented successfully at several institutions. Publishers fought this move as did others within higher education, leading the Department of Education to table this change for the time being.
Once a campus chooses to sign an inclusive-access contract with a provider, it can disincentivize faculty to review alternative materials for their courses, or create or adopt OER, since there is already a contract in place to provide students with low(er) cost resources. Inclusive Access can also put an institution at a competitive disadvantage, as institutions that have chosen to adopt OER and other resources at zero cost to students can use that as a recruiting tool.
Conversations to have around campus
Prior to Inclusive Access being adopted on campus, it’s important to have conversations with all campus partners: administrators, staff, faculty and students.
Administrators/Registrars/Staff: Discuss the idea of course marking in the catalog, allowing students to easily identify courses that utilize OER or other no-cost course materials. Also discuss the need for the opt-out date for Inclusive Access to be after classes have begun, rather than prior to classes starting.
Faculty: Look for opportunities to inform faculty of differences between Inclusive Access, other low-cost options, & OER. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each, and be prepared to help faculty that express interest in OER and open access materials instead of texts available through inclusive access.
Students: If students express concerns over the cost of Inclusive Access, inform them of their right to opt out and provide assistance in locating the materials they need. Engage with student groups on campus to let them know more about OER, and the advantages of those types of materials.
Resources for more information on Inclusive Access versus Open Access
InclusiveAccess.org: A group of organizations dedicated to digital resources and open education that have partnered to “raise awareness of the facts about automatic textbook billing.” InclusiveAccess.org has numerous resources available for those wishing to better educate themselves on inclusive access policies, including resources to better prepare those who plan to be involved in campus conversations around textbook policies and access.
Open Textbook Alliance: A “nationwide project of the Student PIRGs uniting student leaders who are working to bring open textbooks to college campuses and protect students in the textbook market.” The organization seeks to remake the textbook market in the United States to better allow open textbooks to compete with textbooks from traditional publishers.
SPARC Textbook Billing Contract Library: SPARC has put together a database of legal agreements with major textbook publishers that interested parties can use to compare and contrast contracts, obtained through open records requests of public institutions. It has contracts with major academic vendors including Cengage, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, Follett, Barnes & Noble, and VitalSource, with information on the type of agreement, pricing structures, minimum usage rates, revenue sharing provisions, and other terms. The database is searchable with the ability to filter contracts based on specific parameters.
International Open Access Week: Celebrated in October, International Open Access Week is a collaboration between SPARC and the Open Access Week Advisory Committee.