UC Davis Stores’ Award-Winning Program Saves Students $2.3 million on Course Materials

OBERLIN, OH, MARCH 17, 2016 - With many college students struggling to cover the cost of their education, any savings is a big help. The UC Davis Stores, University of California, Davis (UCD), estimates its new Inclusive Access program has saved students $2.3 million on course materials since the program began in 2014. This program has earned UC Davis Stores the NACS Foundation’s Innovation Achievement Award. The NACS Foundation is the charitable arm of the National Association of College Stores (NACS).

The program substantially reduces the cost of course materials for 40 classes at UCD. The UC Davis Stores work with textbook publishers to secure a lower cost for the materials by guaranteeing sales for the entire class.

Students pay for the materials as part of their tuition fees. They have access to digital copies on the first day of class, ensuring they don’t fall behind in their studies because they don’t have the needed course materials. Students can opt out if they prefer.

UC Davis Stores launched the Inclusive Access pilot program in 2014 with 10 courses. This (academic) year, they expanded it to 40 courses and now are working with faculty to add more courses. The program focuses on classes using course materials that are available in digital formats with additional tools and features to help students succeed.

The Innovation Achievement Award recognizes outstanding development, implementation, and creative entrepreneurship of a new or existing collegiate retailing program or service. One of the criteria is that the ideas must be easily adapted by almost any college or university.

The NACS Foundation’s Innovation Achievement Award is funded by the Martin D. Levine Endowment Fund. The award was presented on March 5 at a ceremony during CAMEX 2016 in Houston, TX. Produced by the National Association of College Stores , CAMEX is the largest education and trade show event in the collegiate retailing industry. UC Davis also won the award in 2014 for its “Smart Start” personal bookstore tour guide program for students.

About NACS Foundation

Operating for more than 30 years, the NACS Foundation is the only charitable resource for the collegiate retailing industry. Since its inception, it has disbursed more than $3.1 million for industry education and research, and awarded more than 3,000 professional development grants to college store personnel. The NACS Foundation has touched the careers of thousands of collegiate retailing professionals and counts some of the industry’s leading vendors among its top corporate donors.

About The National Association of College Stores

The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the $10 billion collegiate retailing industry. NACS represents nearly 4,000 campus retailers and approximately 1,000 industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the academic missions of higher education institutions. NACS is headquartered in Oberlin, Ohio. Additional information can be found online at www.nacs.org.