More than 100 years ago, the high cost of textbooks and other essential student supplies was the impetus for students to establish the University of Oregon Cooperative Store, known today as The Duck Store. From our founding to today, we’ve set out to show that an independent, student-governed, nonprofit store offers the best path for students to access the items they need to be successful in college. Over the years, we worked to reduce costs by offering everyday textbook discounts (one of the first college stores to do so), but course materials prices continued to be a contentious issue and a burden for many students.
Thanks to affordability initiatives led in partnership with the University of Oregon, and changes within the textbook industry, we’ve made strides in recent years to help students access what they need for less. Since 2019, the average cost of course materials purchases through The Duck Store has decreased by 31.32%*. Our course materials team helps provide some insight into what is driving these real savings for students:
The course materials landscape has shifted over the past decade. Can you talk about these changes and what that has meant for affordability?
The cost of physical textbooks has risen dramatically over the last decade. As a nonprofit retailer, The Duck Store has always been mindful of the cost to students each term and throughout their college careers. At the same time, improvements in technical infrastructure, content digitization and delivery models have resulted in less expensive, more accessible, and robust digital content. General technological innovation and influence means today’s students are far more comfortable with digital environments than ever before. Legislation at the state and federal levels targeted at textbook affordability has also helped to push affordability initiatives forward.
What steps has The Duck Store actively taken to increase the affordability of course materials?
Partnerships with educational technology companies have allowed us to use platforms and integrations with advanced proprietary systems to procure and sell digital content (offering multi-duration eBooks, publisher courseware, PDF options) in addition to the traditional printed formats.
In addition to offering less expensive digital content, The Duck Store supports the University of Oregon community by encouraging Open Educational Resources (OER) and Library resources. Our team collaborates closely with faculty and library staff to ensure students can readily access open and free educational resources. We provide a platform on our website where faculty can submit OER content and other free online materials that students can view and access directly from our website. By doing so, we help reduce the cost of education while ensuring students have access to quality educational materials.
How has the availability of e-books and digital materials helped to reduce costs for students? How is The Duck Store involved in seeking out those resources and making them available for students?
Publishers have made significant improvements in technical infrastructure, content digitization and delivery models, and in some cases, no longer offer printed materials. Because there is no need to print, warehouse and ship digital materials, the costs of distribution are minimal, resulting in lower prices for eBooks and other digital content.
At The Duck Store, we strive to make course materials more affordable and accessible for students. That's why we've partnered with VitalSource, a leading eBook provider, to offer digital content at a reduced cost. Our integration with VitalSource allows us to quickly identify which titles have a digital match, and we automatically provide the eBook format to students if it's available. By reducing publisher production costs, storage costs, and shipping fees, we can help students save money while providing the materials they need to succeed.
Can you tell us more about efforts to help students know the price of course materials at the time they register for classes? How is The Duck Store involved in this process?
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission requires all Oregon colleges and universities to display required course materials and associated costs on the university bookstore website before student registration for the upcoming term. The University of Oregon has also included this requirement in its UO's Textbook Affordability Strategic Plan.
The Duck Store and the University of Oregon have implemented a process and deadlines for faculty to report course materials each term using Verba Collect, a course materials adoption platform. The Duck Store manages Verba Collect and processes the titles and prices of the course materials submitted to post online for student viewing before registration.
To identify low-cost courses, any course with required materials of $50 or less is marked with a low-cost/no-cost marker on Duck Web and UODuckStore.com. The Duck Store works jointly with the Office of the Registrar to total course material costs and label them accordingly. So, be on the lookout for these markers when registering for your courses:
The Duck Store website:
Duck Web/Registration:
8 - No cost for class textbook materials.
9 - Low cost (less than $50) for class textbook materials.
Faculty: For academic year deadlines, click here. For more information about Verba Collect, click here.
*31.32% decrease based on average textbook and course materials transaction values compared between Fall Term 2023 and Fall Term 2019.