Starting in the fall 2025 semester, the University of New Mexico Bookstore will implement a model that will charge undergraduate students the same flat rate for all textbooks, regardless of degree type or the number of credits they are taking.
According to a UNM Bookstore proposal presentation shared with the Daily Lobo, all students will be automatically opted into the new textbook model — called the Equitable Access model — but can choose to opt out.
The EA model is expected to cost students $296.46 per semester, according to UNM Open Educational Resources Librarian Jennifer Jordan, though this number is not yet finalized. In return, students will receive all of the materials necessary for their classes for the duration of the semester, according to UNM Bookstore Director Lisa Walden.
Under the current Inclusive Access model, students are automatically opted in to receive all their course materials but can choose to opt out on a course-by-course basis, while under EA, students cannot opt out on a course-by-course basis, according to Walden. If students opt out of the new model, they will instead need to manually opt into the IA model, Walden wrote to the Daily Lobo.
The proposed flat fee was calculated using data from the last academic year, according to Walden, and it is expected to be readjusted annually.
Currently, 57.8% of UNM students spend less than $300 per semester on textbooks, according to the presentation.
Jordan worries that students might not realize they have the opportunity to opt out of EA, she said.
“There is the chance for students who are in majors that don't have as expensive books to be unintentionally charged more money than they would normally,” Jordan said.
The change could also disproportionately benefit certain departments over others, such as the engineering department, Jordan said.
“They have really expensive books and materials,” Jordan said. “The students in that area would be the ones who would have the most relief.”
Textbooks for college STEM courses tend to cost more than textbooks for humanities courses, Vox reported.
The new EA model will not change how financial aid can be applied to textbook costs, according to Walden.
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“Although the Opportunity and NM Lottery Scholarships do not currently cover course materials, other forms of financial aid, such as Pell Grants and both institutional and private scholarships can be utilized for this purpose,” Walden wrote.
Jordan said the University can help lower textbook costs by creating more Open Educational Resources, which are free educational materials that professors make specifically for their classes. Jordan works with professors to help them create these resources.
Specific details of the EA model — including its overall cost to students — could change prior to its implementation, according to Walden.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
