Arcadia University students are reading the newspaper—about 200 or so copies a day since the University adopted the Collegiate Readership Program last semester. Each weekday USA Today, the New York Times, and the Philadelphia Inquirer are delivered to news racks in six convenient campus locations.

The readership program is jointly sponsored and supported financially by the Student Government Organization, Undergraduate Studies, Student Affairs, and Parkhurst Dining. “The program started in September and has been a huge success with almost 200 newspapers being picked up (and hopefully read) each day,” reports Dr. Jan Walbert, Vice President for Student Affairs. “We are charged for only those newspapers that are taken, so those left are credited to our account and recycled. So far we have been very successful with our utilization rates, which are above the average for campuses of our size and type in this region.”

The Collegiate Readership Program, adopted by more than 500 other colleges and universities across the nation, is designed to encourage students to develop a regular habit of newspaper readership and enhance the learning environment on campus, says Regional Education Manager, Michael Montana. Read more about the USA Today readership program. Using USA TODAY in the classroom provides timely, relevant, real-world information for use across multiple curriculum areas and majors. It also helps to facilitate discussion among students on current news and information, both in and out of the classroom. Utilizing USA TODAY provides easily accessible resources for lectures and student assignments. Perhaps most important, using USA TODAY in the classroom encourages students to learn about local, national and global issues that stimulate critical reasoning and analytical skills.