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Leading College Publisher Announces Menu Of Low-Cost Textbook Options

PearsonChoices Program Provides Students Flexibility, Choice and Value
NEW WEBBOOKS AT 50% SAVINGS

Upper Saddle River, NJ , August 23, 2004 – – Upon returning to campus this fall, college students and instructors across the nation will discover a range of choices in formats and prices for hundreds of leading textbooks offered by Pearson, the world’s leading education publisher. The industry-shifting initiative debuts the PearsonChoices program, providing the capability to access course material through a variety of print and online options. While providing choice, flexibility, and value, PearsonChoices offers instructors the ability to customize course content for their classes.

Under the PearsonChoices umbrella, in addition to the traditional textbook, faculty and students choose from: low-cost alternate print editions; Text/Web combinations; customized editions built around an instructor’s specific course; and Pearson’s recently-announced SafariX WebBooks.

SafariX WebBooks, a new option for hundreds of Pearson textbooks, saves students 50 percent off the suggested list price of the print equivalent edition. The WebBook provides all the convenience and interactive benefits of the internet, allowing students to print pages, make annotations, take notes, search the full text, and add bookmarks to organize their study, anywhere they have browser access.

PearsonChoices includes titles representing Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Allyn & Bacon, Pearson Longman, Pearson Addison Wesley, Pearson Benjamin Cummings, and Pearson Custom Publishing textbook content.

“Today's students have increasing demands on their time and money, and they need to be resourceful about how, when and where they study," said Will Ethridge, president of Pearson’s Higher Education, International, and Professional Group. “Recent public concern over the rising cost of higher education has validated a strategy that has been years in the making. With PearsonChoices, we are setting the standard among publishers in providing print and digital choices designed to meet the needs of faculty and students alike – all of whom increasingly want learning materials that fit their particular educational goals and budgets."

PearsonChoices, said Ethridge, also addresses concerns from students about price and flexibility issues within the traditional higher education textbook marketplace. “While many of our customers demand in-depth curriculum packages, we realize students and instructors won’t always choose the complete range of materials we have available for each course," he said. “The PearsonChoices model allows each instructor to choose the complete package or individual elements of the program so they get the specific curriculum components they want and need for their class.c

Pearson Higher Education shares the concern of students, parents and faculty about the rising costs of a college education. Pearson recognizes these changing needs of students and is committed to providing options through PearsonChoices. “The feedback we’ve already received from students, professors and the publishing industry has been overwhelmingly positive," said Ethridge. “We look forward to building on the PearsonChoices model to provide an even wider menu in the future."

ABOUT PEARSONCHOICES
PearsonChoices provides flexibility, choice and value. In addition to Pearson’s best selling textbooks from leading authors, PearsonChoices offers: