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A new pilot program that aims to improve access to electronic textbooks for students with disabilities announced today that it has received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The funding will be used over the next two years to support the Student E-rent Pilot Project (STEPP). STEPP is a collaborative program with support from electronic textbook provider CourseSmart, the University of Georgia Alternative Media Access Center and AccessText Network, a nationwide organization that supports the delivery of alternative textbooks to Disabled Student Services offices at colleges throughout the country.

Today, digital textbooks for higher education and career education account for only 0.5% of all textbook sales in the United States. According to a new study by social learning platform Xplana, this could soon change. Xplana predicts that digital textbooks will account for almost 20% of all textbook sales within the next five years. This will make digital textbooks a $1 billion market.

CourseSmart, a leading player in the budding eTextbook market, just released its first iPhone application. Thanks to this app, students can now access college textbooks they have leased from the company on their phones. CourseSmart currently offers over 7,000 eTextbooks and, in addition to the iPhone, also offers software for Macs and Windows PCs. CourseSmart notes that students at over 5,000 colleges have bought textbooks through the company. It is important to note, though, that while CourseSmart's textbooks are cheaper than hard copies, they also expire after 180 days.