It's the Sticker Price, Stupid

Steve Kolowich at Inside Higher Ed has asked the perennial question: Could this be the year higher education finally embraces the e-book?

Looking at the release of the iPad, the viral rise of textbook rentals, and models such as ours, he has put together a high level map of the current state of affairs in terms of eBooks. Probably worth noting: Unlike other publishers, our e-books do NOT expire like a rental!

He also mentions the power of the institutional purchase, pointing to the California State University System announcement in which professors in 32 course sections would require their students to buy e-textbooks. As a result, the system would be able to make larger purchases from the publishers at a discount, which would then be passed on to the student.

We at Flat World Knowledge have seen this recently as well, with our groundbreaking partnership with Virginia State University's school of business, in which VSU has purchased a digital site license for Flat World textbook content.

There are lots of benefits to this partnership, but the key factor here is cost. As Nicole Allen, head of the student PIRG, points out, price, not format, is still the top driver of student textbook-buying behavior.

It's a powerful inverse relationship: Reducing cost leads to increased access, which is a critical building block towards improving student learning.