SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Chegg, the student hub, today announced it has entered into a partnership with OpenStax College and the 20 Million Minds Foundation that will represent a milestone in the growing adoption of open source eTextbooks. The adoption of digital texts is accelerating as more higher education opportunities sprout online and at the same time, university and college institutions are being pressed to find new opportunities for lowering the cost of higher education.

Textbooks will be available through Chegg's HTML5 eTextbook Reader where students can access all the eTextbook Reader tools including community Q&A, search, social highlighting, and a robust note-taking feature.  The open source textbooks are accessible through any connected device on Chegg's HTML5 eTextbook Reader, providing colleges with a scalable platform to provide open source textbooks to their students.  

"We've turned a corner in higher education because the system has acknowledged that the Internet is the clearest path to expanding affordable educational opportunities," said Chegg president and CEO Dan Rosensweig.  "And the online education experience really requires a different kind of text – one that allows students to interact directly with content as they are learning online. Our eTextbook platform is a golden opportunity to marry the promise of online education with the practical realities and needs of online instructors and students."

"We are thrilled to partner with Chegg to give all schools and students access to open source textbooks through their innovative digital platform," said Dean Florez, founder of 20 Million Minds.  "Our mission is to increase access by eliminating unnecessary hurdles to affordability and accessibility so we're excited to partner with Chegg to provide these options to students.  It's now time for faculty to adopt and give the amazing resources of OpenStax College a try."

Chegg will begin offering OpenStax College's open source textbooks for Introductory Sociology, College Physics, and Statistics in January 2013.  Two more OpenStax College titles -- Introductory Biology, and Anatomy and Physiology -- will be released in Spring 2013.  Along with these open source textbooks, Chegg will provide students access to their homework help platform, providing community moderated Q&A and step-by-step solutions to help students reinforce learning concepts. All textbooks and learning tools will be available on www.chegg.com.

About Chegg:
Chegg, the student hub, is transforming the way millions of students learn by connecting them to the people and tools needed to succeed in college through homework help, course selection, eTextbook and textbook options as well as school and scholarship connections.  Students nationwide use Chegg 365 days a year to make learning easier, more accessible and more productive. As a part of the company's philanthropic efforts, Chegg is dedicated to its Chegg For Good program, which empowers students to be a catalyst for change on their campus, in their communities and around the world. Since its founding in 2007, Chegg's growth has made it one of Silicon Valley's most successful start-ups. From starting as a textbook rental company to evolving into the student hub, Chegg is enhancing education for millions of students by saving them time, saving them money and helping them get smarter.  For more information, visit www.chegg.com.

About 20 Million Minds Foundation:
20 Million Minds Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to greatly reducing textbook costs. The foundation is currently leveraging leading-edge technologies to create more affordable, engaging and effective educational materials for college students throughout the nation.  For more information, visit http://20mm.org/

About OpenStax College:
OpenStax College is dedicated to improving access to higher education by lowering the cost of textbooks and high-quality learning materials. We launched in February 2012 with a philanthropic model to offer free, high-quality, peer-reviewed, full-color textbooks for the 25 most heavily attended college courses in the nation. Our books are free online for any student, anywhere, and we partner with companies who provide fee-based products and services that enhance the value of our books for both instructors and students. OpenStax College is a nonprofit initiative of Rice University and is made possible by the generous support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the 20 Million Minds Foundation and the Maxfield Foundation. For more information, visit http://openstaxcollege.org.

SOURCE Chegg