On Feb. 22, President Greg Cant announced the university’s newest program to help students have a successful college experience: Colonels Are Covered.
Partnered with Barnes & Noble, Wilkes will start the program in the fall 2023 semester. The program provides all required course materials to undergraduate students for free, with no additional fees required. This will cover all required textbooks (print and electronic), lab manuals and access codes for digital content.
“We know that you’re the kind of student who can succeed, and for decades we’ve helped students like you achieve more than they thought possible. And, since books can be expensive, one less thing to pay for, too. In fact, our math shows this can save you up to $1,600 per year,” said Cant in his email to the student body.
To acquire textbooks through this program, a student will register for a class and one month before classes start, an email will be sent out with instructions to review the selected classes and choose how to receive the required materials. Students can pick them up from the Colonel Corner for free, or pay $8.99 to ship to a residence.
An email will be sent when an order is ready or when it ships. For digital materials, they will be delivered and accessibly within LIVE/D2L. And when classes are over, the bookstore will send another instructional email on how to return course materials.
Wilkes is one of only three schools in Pennsylvania to offer this program. Overall, there are only 80 nationally.
Excitement from students on campus has already blossomed since the programs reveal.
“I think free textbooks is a great thing to have for students who are barely able to get by on just tuition, especially if the class is ambiguous about how often they use their textbook. Some classes I had said they would use the textbook, then we would proceed to never really use it at all and not have it even mentioned,” said Damian Jenkins, freshman electrical engineering major.
For more information, visit: https://www.wilkes.edu/covered.