Every class. Every textbook. One revolutionary price.
Equitable Access is a revolutionary program that provides every UC Davis undergraduate student access to their textbooks by the first day of class, all for $199 per quarter.
How It Works
Designed To Solve For
INEQUITY
The cost of textbooks varies widely by major, creating significant inequity among students.
COST
High prices force many students to forgo purchasing textbooks, negatively affecting academic outcomes.
ACCESS
Students arrive on campus with nearly everything they need - except their textbooks.
FINANCIAL AID
Financial aid for textbooks is based on a campuswide average; many students are left to cover significant remaining costs.
CONFUSION
Finding digital and traditional textbooks from multiple sources creates confusion and takes up valuable time at the start of each quarter.
What UC Davis Students Are Saying
“Equitable Access takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I won't have to pick and choose which textbooks I can afford—I’ll have instant access to all of my textbooks for one low, fixed price. I feel lucky to attend a university that is fighting for education equity and striving to simply do better.”
Gracey H
Global Disease Biology
“As a first-generation and low-income student, I would appreciate access to the same educational resources as every other student. Equitable Access will give students in every academic major and from every socioeconomic background the same opportunities to achieve their fullest academic potential.”
Alexandra O
Political Science
“By reducing and equalizing the cost of textbooks, Equitable Access will allow students to pursue whatever major they want. Financial barriers don’t need to keep students from pursuing their dreams.”
Tanner G
Psychology/Sociology
Equitable Access is designed to reduce inequity among students by eliminating course material access issues, while ensuring that costs are predictable and equal for all undergraduate students.
Student FAQ
TopView the Faculty FAQ
In your Student Portal and Bookshelf, required textbooks will be displayed with icons indicating if the textbook is digital (computer screen icon), or print (open book with a bookmark) as illustrated below.
Yes, for certain materials. Many of the digital textbooks in Bookshelf may be downloaded to a device and read after the term is over by using the Bookshelf app. Digital textbooks that are a part of a homework manager or courseware are only usable for the quarter during which they were originally provided; unless otherwise noted, access to these materials expires once the term is over.
You may also keep any physical textbooks you receive under Equitable Access so long as you stay enrolled in the program and the course. If you opt out of Equitable Access or drop the course, you’ll need to return the books.
From the time you get your quarterly bill until the day it's due, you can opt yourself out of Equitable Access using the link on the left side of the screen in the “Announcements” section on your MyBill student accounting page. Doing so by this deadline will add a credit to your student account before it is due.
If you miss this date (the day your bill is due), you can still opt yourself out of Equitable Access using the link on the left side of the screen in the “Announcements” section on your MyBill student accounting page up until the Sunday before classes start. In this instance, you are required to pay the Equitable Access fee but will receive a $199 credit in your student account (called BKST Equitable Access Wavier) within two to five business days. As per Student Accounting’s policy, any credit on your account will be dispersed at the end of the month.
If you would like to opt out of Equitable Access after classes begin, you can still do so until the 14th day of instruction. You will need to email [email protected] and request to opt out. If you’re on campus, you can go to the main campus bookstore and request to opt out at the guest services counter or the text floor help desk. In this instance, you are required to pay the Equitable Access fee but will receive a $199 credit in your student account (called BKST Equitable Access Wavier) within two to five business days. As per Student Accounting’s policy, any credit on your account will be dispersed at the end of the month.
Yes. Prior to the Sunday before class starts, you can opt back into Equitable Access using the link provided in the email you received when you opted out. Once you are in your student textbook portal, simply click the button to opt back in. Your student MyBill account will be charged $199
If you’d like to opt back in after that date, you can either email [email protected] and request to opt back in or visit the main campus store and opt back in at the guest services desk or text floor help desk. Your student MyBill account will be charged $199.
Media Coverage
TopNotice how almost all of your household media services are subscription-based? And no matter how many movies you watch or songs you listen to, the monthly fee is the same? Jason Lorgan, Executive Director of Student Affairs at UC Davis, and Ryan Petersen, Vice President of General Management at VitalSource, thought the same kind of service should be offered at colleges and universities to simplify textbook purchases and provide equitable access to course content.
An employee’s experience as a student helps illustrate why the UC Davis Stores decided to put two years of effort into developing an expanded version of inclusive access called “equitable access.”
Textbooks and supplies for one year at UC Davis cost about $1,136. A new program seeks to revolutionize how students get and pay for course materials — and it could halve that annual price tag.
Publishing sales reps work with faculty members to try to convince them that their textbook is the best one. From there, faculty decide what books to require, but the students are the ones who actually open their wallets to pay for them.
Jason Lorgan, Executive Director of Campus Recreation, Memorial Union and UC Davis Stores at University of California, Davis, joined the podcast to talk about the “principal-agent” problem and how they’re attempting to solve for it at UC Davis with a flat-fee textbook model.
A few months ago, the University of California, Davis made the news when it was announced that the campus will soon be trying out a relatively new model of textbook and course-material provision.
As they start a new school year, college students usually come to campus knowing their tuition and room and board costs. The big unknown is the often-hefty cost of textbooks.
We are entering a period of real disruption in the textbook publishing industry, as the major textbook publishers are finding out that their strategy of continuously raising prices isn’t working anymore.
A health-insurance model aims to bring ‘equitable access’ to textbooks. Textbook news is everywhere these days. Last month Cengage and McGraw-Hill said they would merge and Wiley bought Knewton. And last week the State University of New York announced a major expansion of its relationship with Lumen Learning, a company that promotes the use of open educational resources.
Survey Results
TopAwards
Top
The annual Learning Impact Awards competition is open to all educational institutions, school districts, states, edtech suppliers, and workplace training organizations worldwide. Organizations from Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam advanced to this final round of the 2021 competition. UC Davis Stores is proud to be the 2021 Gold Award winner for its Equitable Access textbook program. Read more about the IMS Learning Impact Award in the press release from VitalSource.
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