Starting with the Spring 2025 semester, UVU is adopting a new textbook purchasing program called ‘Wolverine Access.’ University leadership is hopeful that the program will aid in affordability, accessibility, and sustainability to ensure predictable course materials costs for students. With Wolverine Access, students will be automatically opted in to pay a flat rate of $250 for the Fall and Spring semesters (or $150 for the Summer) for all their textbooks and related course materials at the start of each semester.
According to Matthew Chambers, UVU’s Director of Trademarks Licensing and Campus Store Marketing, other schools in the country have recently adopted similar systems and seen retention rates rise.
The program is designed to be simple to understand and use. “The system is fully integrated into Canvas,” Chambers explained. When a student’s registered classes connect to Canvas, students will see a ‘Textbooks and Course Materials Section’ where they will be able to see and have access to the materials their professors require they use for the semester right from day one. While the system is oriented primarily around digital materials, professors may elect to use printed books instead; in such cases, students will be able to visit the campus bookstore to pick it up at no extra charge.
The school will be opting in all students to Wolverine Access automatically in hope that doing so will save students both time and money by facilitating the program’s seamless connection with UVU’s financial aid tools. “They wanted to eliminate all the work for students, with regards to financial aid,” Chambers explained, stating the automatic opt-in will be implemented to “help students more quickly navigate the process.” The university hopes that because of the program, students will be able to begin studying and learning quicker instead of spending time at the beginning of the semester searching manually for books and worrying about how to pay for it all. Chambers also mentioned that as a student drops, adds, or switches classes after the start of the semester, Wolverine Access will automatically adjust alongside.
The final choice is still left to students, however. Students can opt out of the program until the add/drop deadline (typically two to three weeks after the start of the semester).
The system is designed to be transparent in regards to pricing, so students can know whether or not they’d save money by opting out of the flat rate and purchasing their class materials à la carte through Wolverine Access; students can also choose to opt out of the system entirely and purchase their books on their own.
