SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- Ivy Tech Community College is changing the way students pay for books with aims to make the process easier and more predictable.
Last week, the Sellersburg, Ind. college made the announcement it would move to a "banded tuition" model and provide fixed costs for textbooks.
"They'll see the textbook costs on their bill and they will have access to their digital textbooks on the first day of class," said Jodie Beatty, Vice Chancellor for Student Success. "Books will be $19 per credit hour."
In addition, Ivy Tech will cover the cost of textbooks for students for the 2021-2022 school year. The money comes from CARES Act funding.
The banded tuition strategy means students could take more credit hours per semester and graduate faster, without having to pay more.
"In other words if you're paying for 1 to 11 credit hours, you're paying per credit hour," Beatty said. "But if you're taking 12 or more you are paying the banded tuition so it would cost just as much to take 15 credit hours as it would 12."
The plan was hatched out of a meeting with Ivy Tech President Dr. Sue Ellspermann and a group of students in an accelerated program. Those students advised Ellspermann that many of them were sharing books each semester due the expensive and unpredictable nature of textbook prices.
"They were sharing textbooks because they couldn't afford the textbooks, and so they have full, busy lives and were still having to share textbooks to try and make it through their courses," Beatty said. "One semester it might be reasonable and the next semester its through the roof. And you just can't plan for that."
Ivy Tech is one of the first community colleges in the country to adopt the new model.
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