Barnes and Noble Education Spins Off, Looks for Growth in Digital Textbooks, Colleges

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Barnes and Noble Education (BNED) rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange after officially spinning-off from its parent company, Barnes and Noble  (BKS - Get Report).

Executive chairman, Michael Huseby spoke with TheStreet about what will change now that the education division is a publically traded company.

Formerly the Barnes and Noble College division, the separate board and management team will allow Barnes and Noble Education to "have much more focus on the things that are important to Barnes and Noble Education and our college customers," Huseby said. "The spinoff will help the education part of the business achieve access to the capital markets and be able to accomplish some things that it's been wanting to do for some period of time."