Colorado’s community college system announced an agreement Tuesday with textbook publisher Pearson Education to provide reduced-price texts in a digital format for students taking courses online as a way to reduce student costs.

The deal was reached between Colorado Community Colleges Online (CCCOnline) and Pearson (NYSE: PSO).

“Many of our students find it financially challenging to fund a college education and this arrangement will help ease their burden,” CCCS President Nancy McCallin said in a statement.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

CCCOnline, launched 10 years ago, is a consortium of 13 schools in the Colorado Community College System. It offers some 1,400 online courses to 17,000 students each year.

Under the deal, students will pay for electronic textbooks when they are charged for tuition. They can print out some or all of the texts, or order special printed copies through campus bookstores.