Dive Brief:
- A survey of undergraduates by the National Association of College Stores has found steadily shrinking spending on course materials since 2007.
- The Book Industry Study Group has found students are spending less because they’re skipping required textbook purchases, not because the books are getting any cheaper.
- When publishers offer textbooks along with a suite of multimedia elements, students can’t turn in assignments without them, which limits their ability to avoid the purchases entirely.
Dive Insight:
Many college campuses have explored ways of reducing the cost of textbooks for students, including shifting from an on-campus store model to an online delivery model through retailers like Amazon or Akademos. When students find the cost of these materials to be prohibitive, however, it limits their ability to participate in a course in a substantive way. In some cases, it limits their ability to pass courses, hurting student success measures and, at the extreme, retention.
College textbook costs have risen in recent years but average spending by students has dropped from $701 in 2007-2008 to $563 this past academic year, according to data from the National Association of College Stores. Administrators might consider new ways to provide cheaper options for students or offer aid specifically for books.