Textbooks have never been cheap, but are an essential purchase. However, the largest publisher of college textbooks is introducing a cheaper, digital alternative for students this year.
Pearson has announced the launch of a two-tier subscription service called Pearson+, offering access to over 1,500 digital textbooks for $9.99 or $14.99 per month. The Single Tier option allows access to one Pearson eText at a time for $9.99, where as the Multi Tier allows unlimited access to over 1,500 Pearson eTexts for $14.99. When signing up, you’re committed to a four-month term before the subscription auto-renews on a month-by-month basis after that. It’s possible to turn the auto-renew feature off in settings, though.
The textbooks will be available to read either on your PC or through a mobile app. Offline access is possible and audio versions of some books will be available. Pearson is also promising “advanced notetaking capability with enhanced search features,” flash card sets, font and background options for each book, and 24/7 live support for students. There’s also discounts available for Smarthinking tutoring services.
Compared to spending hundreds of dollars on textbooks that may only be useful for a year, Pearson+ is going to be a very tempting and therefore popular alternative. It’s also going to save Pearson a small fortune in printing and heavy book transportation costs if the subscription service does prove popular. That’s also potentially good news for the environment.
