Follett Higher Education Group Brings ACCESS to More College Students During COVID-19

Expansion of program delivers course materials to more than 1 million students at more than 270 schools

WESTCHESTER, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Follett Higher Education Group today announced the expansion of its Follett ACCESS program to an additional 29 college campuses this fall, providing access and affordability to even more students during the pandemic as students were away from the classroom.

Follett was first-to-market in 2012 with the ground-breaking program that includes course materials with tuition and provides full academic freedom for faculty. The program brings together Follett’s technology tools and the widest range of content from the company’s 6,000+ publisher partnerships, more than 80% of which is digital content. Today, Follett ACCESS is active on more than 270 Follett-managed campuses.

With Follett ACCESS, all students have what they need on the first day of class, stress-free, affordably and effortlessly, regardless of economic background or social status.

“We see so much inequity in higher education and became frustrated with the gap that is often created by lack of access to affordable materials,” said Roe J. McFarlane, President of Follett Higher Education Group. “We saw an opportunity to do more, to be part of the solution. The Follett ACCESS program allows institutions to level the playing field for all students by providing course materials on day one, enabling student success for all.”

The expansion of Follett ACCESS brings the following milestones:

• 1 million students served this fall
• $100M in student savings over the life of the program
• 8 new campus-wide implementations for fall
• 2.5 million course materials provisioned last year
• 100K+ active course sections

Follett is disrupting the traditional course materials model—and for good reason. Historically, fewer than 50 percent of America's students graduate, and despite the intense industry focus on textbook affordability programs, course materials grants, and open educational resources (OER), the completion rates are not improving. Follett sits at the center of solving the root cause of this problem.

“With Follett ACCESS, we aim to save students money on course materials, increase retention rates and, ultimately, improve graduation rates,” said Mike Gogliotti, Vice President of Academic Programs and Partnerships. “Expanding this program to include more than 1 million students allows us to deliver on our mission of driving better educational outcomes for all.”

For more information about Follett ACCESS, visit https://follettaccess.follett.com/.

About Follett Higher Education Group (FHEG):

FHEG is a prominent and historic omni-channel retailer and educational service provider that operates over 1,100 campus store locations and 1,250 eCommerce websites, providing emblematic and non-emblematic general merchandise and course materials within the higher education marketplace. FHEG serves both two-year and four-year colleges through long-term contracts with approximately 800 campus partners. FHEG manages the institution’s online and in-store channels to assort and sell a wide array of merchandise and services that support students, faculty, campus administration, alumni, and the surrounding community.