Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) is making student success their priority. Serving Eastern Oregon, BMCC offers residents of Umatilla, Morrow, and Baker Counties an opportunity to pursue Associate’s degrees and certificates at their main campus, one of their many student centers, or through distance learning options.

One of the themes consistently mentioned in our conversations with colleges and universities is – schools are looking for creative new ways to increase enrollment and drive student success.

When change is hard, communicating the right information to the right audience is key to getting your team on board. 

At the root, Equitable Access is the bundling of books and course materials with tuition, but when you dive into the details, Equitable Access is so much more. 

Equitable Access is:

A variety of barriers to success can exist for college students today, including access to technology and equipment. With so many courses requiring online access and student outcomes relying so heavily on their ability to navigate technology, it's important that students have access to tools that meet their needs. 

Western Oklahoma State College (WOSC), a public, state-supported two-year institution introduced Equitable Access to support their students in the Fall 2022 semester and reduce the cost of textbooks. Equitable Access is an up-and-coming course material delivery model that allows students to access their materials on the first day of class for one low course material fee.

Melissa McMahon, Vice President for Business Affairs at WOSC said, “We have made a commitment to our students to find strategies that combat the rising costs of textbooks. Launching the new textbook delivery model is expected to drastically lower the costs of materials, while still allowing full academic freedom so faculty can continue to decide their course texts.”

By bundling course materials with a course material fee, students at WOSC are provided with affordable course materials and can arrive in class prepared on the first day. Under their Equitable Access model, students will no longer need to make separate purchases, pay for additional shipping fees, or risk ordering the wrong textbooks prior to the semester's start.

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: