An HEOA Overview
The regulations for HEOA go into effect on July 1, 2010

 

The United States government passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 in response to increasing costs associated with higher education, particularly textbooks and supplemental course materials.

Signed into law in August of 2008, HEOA is an extension of the original Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, and requires every higher learning institution in the United States that receives federal funding to disclose accurate course material information, including ISBNs and retail prices. Transparency is an underlying goal of HEOA because it allows your students to search for the most affordable textbook options.

Is your Institution in compliance?
The regulations for HEOA go into effect on July 1, 2010
Section 1 Purpose
Section 2 Definitions
Section 3 Publishers
Section 4 ISBNs & Pricing
Section 5 Disclosure
Section 6 Additional Info
Section 7 GAO Report
Are You Compliant?

In subsequent paragraphs, you’ll find Section 112 of HEOA, “Textbook Information,” and exactly what it means for your institution’s compliancy. You’ll also learn about the tools MBS Direct provides institutions of all sizes throughout the country to ensure compliancy. When you partner with MBS Direct for your textbook needs, fulfilling HEOA requirements takes minimal effort on your behalf. Use the navigation to view a specific section.

*Please keep in mind the paragraphs below do not reflect a legal opinion and should not be understood as such.  

The Legislation
(a) Purpose and Intent
The purpose of this section is to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials. It is the intent of this section to encourage all of the involved parties, including faculty, students, administrators, institutions of higher education, bookstores, distributors, and publishers, to work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while supporting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students.

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
This is the primary reason the government passed the legislation. We understand textbook prices have been a burden on a large number of college students across the nation, and students at your institution are no exception. Along with the United States government, we feel as though education is the fundamental step for a successful future. Students need their textbooks and course materials to succeed in courses. We are pleased to offer many cost-saving programs and products to assist students with the expenses associated with education.

The Tools for Compliancy
MBS Direct has many programs to reduce the overall and bottom line costs associated with textbooks to address this section of HEOA.

  • The nation’s largest inventory of money-saving used books are available at a fraction of the new book cost

  • A groundbreaking Guaranteed Buyback program designed to help lower the overall cost of owning textbooks for the entire academic term

  • A Customer Loyalty program to provide returning customers more money when they sell back their textbooks, lowering the total cost to own them

  • Thousands of eBooks and digital titles that cost less than new print books

  • MBS Direct’s Course Director application grants faculty members academic freedom to choose desired course materials, contains enrollment data, pricing information, and several other facets to keep costs as low as possible.

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The Legislation
(b) Definitions In this section:

(1) Bundle
The term `bundle' means one or more college textbooks or other supplemental materials that may be packaged together to be sold as course materials for one price.
(2) College textbook
The term `college textbook' means a textbook or a set of textbooks, used for, or in conjunction with, a course in postsecondary education at an institution of higher education.
(3) Course schedule
The term `course schedule' means a listing of the courses or classes offered by an institution of higher education for an academic period, as defined by the institution.
(4) Custom textbook
The term `custom textbook'--

(A) means a college textbook that is compiled by a publisher at the direction of a faculty member or other person or adopting entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education; and
(B) may include, alone or in combination, items such as selections from original instructor materials, copyrighted publisher materials, copyrighted third-party works, and elements unique to a specific institution, such as commemorative editions.

(5) Institution of higher education
The term `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the term in section 102.
(6) Integrated textbook
The term `integrated textbook' means a college textbook that is--

(A) combined with materials developed by a third party and that, by third-party contractual agreement, not be offered by publishers separately from the college textbook with which the materials are combined; or
(B) combined with other materials that are so interrelated with the content of the college textbook that the separation of the college textbook from the other materials would render the college textbook unusable for its intended purpose.

(7) Publisher
The term `publisher' means a publisher of college textbooks or supplemental materials involved in or affecting interstate commerce.         
(8) Substantial content
The term `substantial content' means parts of a college textbook such as new chapters, new material covering additional eras of time, new themes, or new subject matter.
(9) Supplemental material
The term `supplemental material' means educational material developed to accompany a college textbook that--

(A) may include printed materials, computer disks, access, and electronically distributed materials; and                
(B) is not being used as a component of an integrated textbook.

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
Each of the definitions listed above are the industry standard in terms of textbooks and supplemental course materials. MBS Direct uses the aforementioned terms in daily business communications. If you have any questions or need further explanation of one or more of these definitions, please email us at DirectInfo@mbsDirect.net.

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The Legislation
(c) Publisher Requirements

(1) College textbook pricing information
When a publisher provides a faculty member or other person or adopting entity in charge of selecting course materials at an institution of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance with information regarding a college textbook or supplemental material, the publisher shall include, with any such information and in writing (which may include electronic communications), the following:

(A) The price at which the publisher would make the college textbook or supplemental material available to the bookstore on the campus of, or otherwise associated with, such institution of higher education and, if available, the price at which the publisher makes the college textbook or supplemental material available to the public.

(B) The copyright dates of the three previous editions of such college textbook, if any.

(C) A description of the substantial content revisions made between the current edition of the college textbook or supplemental material and the previous edition, if any.

(D)(i) Whether the college textbook or supplemental material is available in any other format, paperback and unbound; and
(ii) for each other format of the college textbook or supplemental material, the price at which the publisher would make the college textbook or supplemental material in the other format available to the bookstore on the campus of, or otherwise associated with, such institution of higher education and, if available, the price at which the publisher makes such other format of the college textbook or supplemental material available to the public.

(2) Unbundling of college textbooks from supplemental materials
A publisher that sells a college textbook and any supplemental material accompanying such college textbook as a single bundle shall also make available the college textbook and each supplemental material as separate and unbundled items, each separately priced.

(3) Custom textbooks
To the maximum extent practicable, publisher shall provide the information required under this subsection with respect to the development and provision of custom textbooks.
         

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
An underlying theme of the entire textbook section of the HEOA legislation is transparency. The section above outlines the transparency that publishers must provide to your institution. This portion of the legislation holds each publisher accountable for price increases, unnecessary bundling of materials, descriptions of edition revisions, and supplemental course material availability. The publisher providing this information to your institution should drive the price of textbooks and course materials down because faculty can read descriptions of edition changes and make informed decisions about whether or not a bundle is actually necessary for the course.

The Tools for Compliancy
Subsection (c) is written primarily for publishers, however, MBS Direct has the resources to help you easily access all publisher information about current and old editions.

  • Course Director is an online course adoption application where you and staff members can research more than 600,000 titles and analyze information about previous editions, supplemental materials bundled with or without the textbook, and the overall cost of the books
  • Your faculty members can access Faculty Center Network, an online textbook research tool, where they can:
    • Read a summary of the textbook
    • View a quick glance of the table of contents
    • Read a sample chapter
    • Look at the preface (when/if applicable)
    • Link to the publisher’s Web site
    • Understand available supplemental course materials
    • Read book reviews from respected critics
    • Link to request a free desk copy for faculty review
    • Thousands of academically-relevant eBook titles at a cheaper cost than their print counterparts

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The Legislation
(d) Provision of ISBN College Textbook Information in Course Schedules
To the maximum extent practicable, each institution of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance shall--

(1) <<NOTE: Web site.>>  disclose, on the institution's Internet course schedule and in a manner of the institution's choosing, the International Standard Book Number and retail price information of required and recommended college textbooks and supplemental materials for each course listed in the institution's course schedule used for preregistration and registration purposes, except that--

(A) if the International Standard Book Number is not available for such college textbook or supplemental material, then the institution shall include in the Internet course schedule the author, title, publisher, copyright date for such college textbook or supplemental material; and

(B) if the institution determines that the disclosure of the information described in this subsection is not practicable for a college textbook or supplemental material, then the institution shall so indicate by placing the designation `To Be Determined' in lieu of the information required under this subsection; and

(2) if applicable, include on the institution's written course schedule a notice that textbook information is available on the institution's Internet course schedule, and the Internet address for such schedule.

MBS Direct's Interpretation
Simply stated, this requirement of HEOA will require your institution to have course schedules and required materials for the courses available for purchase electronically, including course material information such as ISBNs and retail prices, so the student can understand the initial cost of textbooks and course materials. If you provide MBS Direct with a booklist, we will display this information for you upon request.

The Tools for Compliancy
This section presents perhaps some of the most challenging requirements for many higher education institutions to meet.

  • Ensuring that your course schedule and associated required course materials are available online is easy with our school-branded online bookstore. Course-driven ordering is MBS Direct's foundation and includes information about book condition, book availability, retail price, author, title, publisher, copyright date, edition number, and any supplemental materials that might be bundled. If you provide MBS Direct with a booklist, we will display ISBN information for you upon request.
  • Students can easily access their course material information at the time of pre-registration and registration if your institution implements FastPass ordering. Students simply click a button within your course management system and they are taken directly to their course list and required course materials.



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The Legislation
(e) Availability of Information for College Bookstores
An institution of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance shall make available to a college bookstore that is operated by, or in a contractual relationship or otherwise affiliated with, the institution, as soon as is practicable upon the request of such college bookstore, the most accurate information available regarding--

(1) the institution's course schedule for the subsequent academic period; and
(2) for each course or class offered by the institution for the subsequent academic period--

(A) the information required by subsection (d)(1) each college textbook or supplemental material required or recommended for such course or class;
(B) the number of students enrolled in such course or class; and
(C) the maximum student enrollment for such course or class.

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
This section of HEOA ensures clear communications between your institution and your bookstore partner or other affiliated organization regarding course scheduling and associated course material information. Your bookstore or affiliated textbook organization needs to know the preceding information in order to accurately forecast the amount of books and course materials in which to acquire for distribution. This will help reduce overhead costs to drive prices as low as possible.

The Tools for Compliancy
Partnering with MBS Direct will alleviate all burdens associated with this section of the act. Your dedicated Account Manager will ask for the aforementioned information in order to organize the pieces of your online bookstore.

  • The previously mentioned Course Director application will assist you with submitting titles for adoption, enrollment data, and several other facets needed to fulfill HEOA requirements. Additionally, Course Director has pricing information for more than 600,000 books to assist with clear communications.

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The Legislation
(f) Additional Information
An institution disclosing the information required by subsection (d) is encouraged to disseminate to students information regarding--

(1) available institutional programs for renting textbooks or for purchasing used textbooks;
(2) available institutional guaranteed textbook buy-back programs;
(3) available institutional alternative content delivery programs; or
(4) other available institutional cost-saving strategies.

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
This portion of the act is not required of your institution, but is highly encouraged. Briefly stated, it strongly advocates that you disseminate information about any available guaranteed buyback programs, alternative content delivery programs, and other cost-saving strategies. Students should be informed of the best deal and understand what your institution and MBS Direct are doing to keep textbook prices as low as possible.

The Tools for Compliance
MBS Direct will provide your institution a myriad of print and electronic marketing and communications materials to educate your students about the available cost savings at your institution. These programs include:

  • Guaranteed Buyback program that will show students the exact amount they will receive at the end of the term (up to 45% off the purchase price of a new textbook)
  • The largest library of eBooks available in education, including more than 10,000 eTextbooks and more than 20,000 academically-relevant titles, including eContent, trade books, study aids, and ancillary materials
  • The nation’s largest selection of used textbooks
    A Customer Loyalty program to provide more money at buyback when they purchase and sell back textbooks through MBS Direct

Introducing Xplana
Rolling out to MBS Direct partner institutions in 2010, Xplana is a central hub for your students’ academic life that allows them to consolidate their eBooks and notes in one application. Through Xplana, faculty can add notes and comments to eBooks and then push those comments into the books owned by students. In addition, students and faculty can communicate with one another through the Xplana platform, centralizing conversations around key portions of content. For faculty, Xplana offers a way for them to publish their own materials and distribute those materials directly into their students’ Xplana interface. With Xplana, your institution will be able to offer the latest in learning technology with no additional cost to the institution, faculty, or student.

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The Legislation
(g) GAO Report
Not later than July 1, 2013, the Comptroller General of the United States shall report to the authorizing committees on the implementation of this section by institutions of higher education, college bookstores, and publishers. The report shall particularly examine--

(1) the availability of college textbook information on course schedules;
(2) the provision of pricing information to faculty of institutions of higher education by publishers;
(3) the use of bundled and unbundled material in the college textbook marketplace, including the adoption of unbundled materials by faculty and the use of integrated textbooks by publishers; and
(4) the implementation of this section by institutions of higher education, including the costs and benefits to such institutions and to students.

(h) Rule of Construction
Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede the institutional autonomy or academic freedom of instructors involved in the selection of college textbooks, supplemental materials, and other classroom materials.


(i) No Regulatory Authority
The Secretary shall not promulgate regulations with respect to this section.'

(b) <<NOTE: 20 USC 1015b note.>>  Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on July 1, 2010.

MBS Direct’s Interpretation
This portion of HEOA holds the governing body accountable to examine pertinent information about textbooks and other course materials to make sure it doesn’t interfere with the academic freedom of faculty or students. In simple terms, this will prove or disprove HEOA’s effectiveness in regards to lowering the prices of textbooks and course materials. It is MBS Direct’s hope that this will keep costs associated with textbooks as low as possible.

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Are you HEOA Compliant?

If you would like to learn more about MBS Direct's HEOA solutions, please enter your information below. An MBS Direct representative will contact you shortly to ensure you are complying with HEOA.

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To download the entire Higher Education Opportunity Act, click here.
Click here to view the United States Department of Education's HEOA site.

 
 
 


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