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Tau Kappa Epsilon Partners with Akademos to Provide Students Nationwide with Online Textbook Marketplace

NORWALK -- Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) International, a fraternity with 270 campus-based chapters, has licensed Akademos, Inc. to provide TKE chapters with private-label versions of Akademos' popular online textbook marketplace, TextbookX.com. Through this license agreement, TKE members will market their privately-branded websites to fellow students, who can then access millions of used textbooks through the TextbookX.com national database. Student buyers can substantially save on the costs of the textbooks, student sellers will earn more for the books than wholesale buyback prices, and a portion of the revenue will support scholarships, charities, and Greek life.

"This exciting license agreement with Akademos means that TKE members can now help their fellow students manage the costs of college textbooks, while also contributing funds to worthy causes," said Kevin Mayeux, CEO of TKE.

As a just-released GAO report notes, college textbook prices tripled from 1986 to 2004. At four-year public universities, textbooks now constitute 26% of tuition and fees. For students and parents concerned about the high costs of textbooks, the new TKE-branded websites will be a welcome relief, as buyers can save an average of 50% off new book list prices when purchasing through the marketplace.

"The new GAO report," said Brian Jacobs, President and CEO of Akademos, "strongly supports the view that students need relief from the costs of textbooks. This agreement means that students across the country can now look to their local TKE chapter to find such relief, and it will provide a valuable alternative channel for selling books back at semester's end."

TextbookX.com is one of the largest independent online sources of new and used college textbooks, and offers students the ability to buy and sell books, video games, and DVDs. The company utilizes sophisticated peer-to-peer marketplace technology and a highly efficient distribution process to dramatically lower the cost of textbooks and other materials for college students.

Akademos, Inc. was founded in April 1999 by Brian Jacobs, Ph.D., then a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Its mission is to use new distribution models and media to democratize and enhance opportunities for students in higher education. Akademos provides colleges, universities, and other organizations with the most effective and innovative online bookstore solutions available.