For years, Northwest Missouri State University took an innovative approach to distributing instructional materials to its students. Most schools rely on a blend of on- and off-campus bookstores to outfit students with new hefty textbooks that sometimes cost hundreds of dollars per semester. By contrast, the Maryville, Mo., university launched its long-term textbook rental program in 1905; it currently charges students a flat fee of $6 per credit hour to rent a textbook for the semester. The trailblazing university was also one of the first to offer online courses back in 1995.
By Lee Copeland
ReadEd Tech