Oglala Lakota College introduced Inclusive Access courses through Akademos in the spring 2022 semester and continued through the fall 2022 semester. Inclusive Access is a digital course material delivery model where students are automatically granted access to their materials on or before the first day of class at a reduced price. Courses from the business, accounting, and economics departments are part of their Inclusive Access program, which reaches over 200 students each semester.

Student readiness, success, and retention are key metrics for Academic Affairs offices across higher education. Changing your course material purchase and delivery service might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re brainstorming ways to improve those metrics, but it shouldn’t be dismissed.

Today’s college students are accustomed to subscription models and flat-rate fees because so many of them grew up with these services. Equitable Access is an innovative course material delivery model that offers students access to their course materials on the first day of class for one low fee, embedded into the cost of tuition.

Here are some of the top ways implementing an Equitable Access model can positively impact your students:

Prior to the Internet and eCommerce capabilities, college students had limited choices when it came to obtaining their textbooks: they either bought textbooks and course materials from the campus bookstore or they went without, the latter a somewhat unlikely choice given the relative affordability of textbooks in the past.

Fast forward to more recent history and, while most students can still buy from the campus bookstore, off-campus retailers like Amazon, eBay, and other platforms have captured more and more textbook sales by offering students lower prices and more convenient shopping options.