Understanding All Access’ Impact

Recently, NOVA faculty received a “faculty toolkit” on the All Access program from a fellow faculty member. 

The email indicated that Barnes & Noble College (BNC) “made” an additional $4.8M from students in fall 2024 over fall 2023.

Why it matters: BNC clearly distinguishes between revenue and profit.

• BNC collects a fee from students who use All Access along with revenue on purchases through the bookstore by students opting not to participate in All Access.
• In both cases, this revenue covers textbook author royalties, publisher fees and bookstore operations.
• Therefore, we should not imply that BNC earned the additional $4.8M as profit.

Student benefits:

• Many faculty have reported that, for the first time, students have all their course materials on the first day of class, so the $4.8M may reflect the fact that students are acquiring more of their course materials than they have previously.
• Students using financial aid receive their materials with no upfront money and BNC is reimbursed those costs once aid is disbursed.
• Many students balance their education with employment and family responsibilities, making the convenience of having materials bundled automatically for pickup or delivery an important part of their calculations.

How you can help: As part of our responsibility to students, we need to educate them on whether to participate in All Access based on their individual needs. Faculty should start this discussion with their students on the first day of class, including reminding them of important opt-out deadlines.  Lastly, faculty decide what materials are needed and we ask that they review this each semester to ensure that the students can achieve their educational outcomes in a cost-effective way.

Go deeper: Get the full context here. < https://www.nvcc.edu/academics/bookstore/all-access.html>