HOPE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana has been named as a top 10 national finalist for the Bellwether Awards in the category of Planning, Governance, and Finance.
Bellwether finalists are made up of leading community colleges around the country whose programs and practices were selected among competitive submissions as exemplary.
The college's textbook rental program is what got them recognized.
Under the UAHT Book Rental Program, the college purchases the textbooks and rents them directly to students. For students who participate in the book rental program, textbooks cost only $20 per credit hour, plus tax.
"A typical class would cost $60, plus tax, regardless of the cost of the book and regardless of how many books that course requires," UAHT Interim Chancellor Laura Clark said.
Since the start of the program about five years ago, students have saved more than $3.8 million on textbooks, school officials say. That represents an average savings of $460 per student each semester.
Clark said this program fixed a lot of financial issues students were previously having with the purchase of books.
"So here was our problem. For many students, the cost of their textbooks were more than the cost of tuition," Clark said. "We're one of the lowest tuition and fees colleges in the state of Arkansas, and so that resulted in students either not buying a book or they would come back and drop the class. So we were having some pretty big issues."
The Bellwether finalists undergo a second and final round of review at the 2021 Community College Futures Assembly in January. Each selected college is to provide a 60-minute presentation on its program or model to an anonymous panel, recognized as skilled practitioners and thought leaders in the field.
The following ten institutions were named finalists in the Planning, Governance, and Finance category: University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana, Southwest Tennessee Community College, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Onondaga Community College, El Paso Community College, Blinn College District, Collin College, Pensacola State College, Broward College and Pima Community College.
All finalists will be presented at the 2021 Community Colleges Futures Assembly, and one winner will then be selected from each category by a panel of national experts.
Clark said this program has not only saved students money, but in some cases, has resulted in them gaining extra cash.
"Because our book program is so affordable, and because our tuition is so low, students often times get money back when they go to school," she said.