An agreement with Follett Higher Education Group saved Connecticut’s community college students more than $4 million in textbook costs during the last academic year compared to buying new textbooks, according to state officials.
Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, announced the first-year savings of the five-year agreement Tuesday.
“We heard directly from students how the cost of books inhibits their ability to complete their coursework,” said Ojakian. “These books can cost hundreds of dollars and frequently are only used for one semester. Our goal is to keep our institutions accessible and affordable so in this instance we negotiated as a system and got the best deal for our students.”
Last year, CSCU reached the agreement with Follett to manage the 12 community college bookstores, which included a commitment from Follett to invest $250,000 in campus bookstore upgrades.
The savings for students were reached partly through Follett’s offer to match the price if students find a new or used textbook for a lesser amount with another vendor such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble. In addition, students saved money by buying used books or renting them, and selling their textbooks back to the stores.
Follett also offered the students a 10 percent discount on new books and provided a $250,000 scholarship fund.
According to a statement released by CSCU, Melissa Cote, a first-year student at Asnuntuck Community College said the discounts and price matching are “great” and added that the “10 percent discount made it an easier decision when it came to keeping or selling back. I think it gives you a better option of purchasing books here.”
