Flat World Knowledge, Publisher of Open Source Textbooks, Comments on Nomination of Arne Duncan to Secretary of Education
(http://www.flatworldknowledge.com), a publisher of open-source college
textbooks, today commented on President-elect
Tuesday of
“We congratulate
Education,” said
uncertain economic climate, and amid growing intellectual competition from
emerging and developed countries, education offers Americans the single most
important long-term key to remaining competitive in the global economy.
Although America’s higher education system is the envy of the world, high
textbook prices now threaten to make higher education unaffordable to many
deserving students.
“Textbook prices have spiraled out of control during the last several
years, growing two and half times faster than the rate of inflation between
1986 and 2004, according to Department of Labor statistics. According to
Department of Education statistics examining the 2003-2004 school year,
textbook expenses as a percentage of tuition were 72 percent at two year
colleges and 24 percent at four year public institutions. According to the
State Public Interest Research Groups Higher Education Project in 2005,
average yearly textbook expenses now run
“In the current economic climate, government’s ability to contribute to
public university and community college budgets is decreased. The reduced
funding is forcing schools to increase tuition and fees and decrease
enrollment at the worst possible time for students and their families. Some
of these increases in fees could be offset by reduced textbook costs if the
public and private sectors partner to explore new pragmatic, market-based
approaches to solving the problem.
“Mr. Duncan, we urge you and your staff to initiate immediate dialog
between government, entrepreneurs and educators to explore new alternative
solutions that provide more value at less cost to all constituents involved,
including students, faculty, parents and administrators.
“The cost of inaction is too great. If the crisis of high textbook prices
continues unabated, hundreds of thousands of qualified students will
effectively be denied the freedom to pursue a higher education.
“Although we do not advocate government-mandated regulation of textbook
prices, we do believe that the current business model for the traditional
textbook industry is failing students, and soon, the industry itself may fail
as it crumbles under the weight of its inefficient business practices.
“As a leading publisher of open source textbooks, we believe new digital
publishing technologies, combined with open source principles, represent a
promising solution to the textbook cost issue. We also believe open source,
combined with new digital publishing practices, could potentially hold the key
to the salvation of the textbook industry itself – an industry we can’t afford
to let fail.
“This month, over 600 students from 20 colleges and universities across
open source textbooks, published by Flat World Knowledge. Flat World
Knowledge provided the students and their instructors free online versions of
professionally produced and peer-reviewed textbooks. Students, at their
option, were able to purchase Print-on-Demand (POD) versions of their texts,
as well as a range of digital study aids. The average cost per student per
class ran approximately
reduction over the cost of traditionally published learning materials.
“Flat World Knowledge’s open source textbooks have generated great
excitement among students and academics because they appreciate our ability to
produce high quality but lower cost learning materials. Students benefit
directly from the decreased costs, and educators appreciate how the open-
source approach employed by Flat World gives them far more control over the
classroom experience because digital open source textbooks enable instructors
to customize books to better suit their syllabus and teaching style.
“Based on the success of this nationwide trial, Flat World Knowledge,
working in partnership with faculty around the country, will in 2009 expand
the rollout of Flat World Knowledge’s textbooks to hundreds of universities
and tens of thousands of students.
“Mr. Duncan, on behalf of Flat World Knowledge and our customers, we
welcome the opportunity to work in partnership with your office and the
incoming Obama administration to make higher education learning materials
affordable to all students.”
About Flat World Knowledge, LLC
Founded in 2007 by textbook publishing industry veterans
textbooks for higher education. Flat World Knowledge’s textbooks are written
by the world’s leading subject matter experts. The books are peer-reviewed,
professionally edited, and made available for free online to educators and
students. Educators have the freedom to use the books as-is, or to reorganize
and edit them to suit their unique classroom requirements. Students can access
the books for free online, or purchase alternatives from print-on-demand
versions of the books, to audio versions, to downloadable versions and more at
a fraction of the cost of traditional textbooks. Students can also purchase
from a range of digital study aids that support each book. Flat World
Knowledge backs its textbooks with an online social learning platform that
allows students to learn from each other as well as from the book. More
information about Flat World Knowledge is available on the Web at
http://www.flatworldknowledge.com.
Media Contact:
Bryan Ferraro or Joeline Boulware
Dovetail Public Relations
408.395.3600
fwk at dovetailpr.com
SOURCE Flat World Knowledge, LLC