Houghton Mifflin Co. News Release - June 3, 2005

Houghton Mifflin Announces Master Student Textbook to Prepare College Student Athletes for Success on and off the Field

New text to help students balance academics and athletics, and prepare for life after college

BOSTON — June 3, 2005 — Recent, more rigorous changes to academic requirements for student athletes make it essential to provide those students with the skills and strategies they need to succeed academically and to maintain eligibility.

To prepare these students for success, Houghton Mifflin Company announces the publication of Becoming a Master Student Athlete. Based on the principles of the best-selling Becoming a Master Student, now in its eleventh edition, the text was developed specifically to meet the unique challenges faced by first-year student athletes in succeeding both on and off the field.

“When developing the text, including the writing of articles and activities, we involved faculty advisors, instructors and coaches to student athletes — the people who best understand these students,” said Patricia Coryell, publisher of humanities, Houghton Mifflin College Division. “Every sentence in the text has been tailored to meet the needs of these students.”

The text is designed to help students balance the demands of academics and athletics by focusing on several key issues: the pressures on time, the body and interpersonal relationships; how to approach major/career-oriented decisions; studying on the road; communicating with instructors, coaches and the media; and the importance of selecting a major and planning for a life beyond college, while underscoring how the skills that help athletes on the field can be applied in both the classroom and the workplace.

“Student athletes have unique demands and challenges to meet every day, and Becoming a Master Student Athlete is an ideal text to help them do just that,” said Sandy Meyer, assistant director and first-year academic coordinator at Penn State University, where she has taught a seminar for student athletes for 18 years.

"This text incorporates all the tools our student athletes need to be successful college graduates and successful in life," added Meyer, who is also president-elect of the National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics.

Key features of Becoming a Master Student Athlete include:

• Activities with a hands-on, "do-it" approach
• Articles written by advisors, instructors, and coaches titled Connect to resources; Academic skill vs. athletic skill; Reading on the road; Communicating with Coaches and with instructors; “But I don’t know what I want to do”: Choosing a major; and Career planning: Begin the process now
• Master Student athlete profiles, including soccer player Mia Hamm, diver Greg Louganis, tennis player Billie Jean King, softball player Dot Richardson, baseball player Jim Abbott and basketball player Oscar Robertson
• A robust Web site with self-quizzes, activities and exercises

In addition to its series of Master Student texts, Houghton Mifflin has college survival consultants that help colleges design, implement and grow student success courses.

About Houghton Mifflin
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Company is one of the leading educational publishers in the United States, with over $1 billion in sales. Houghton Mifflin publishes textbooks, instructional technology, assessments and other educational materials for elementary and secondary schools and colleges. The Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning fiction and nonfiction for adults and young readers. Houghton Mifflin offers computer-administered testing programs and services for the professional and certification markets. With its origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation. The Company's Web site can be found at www.hmco.com.