In the USA today, students are paying, on average, between $1,200 and $1,500 for textbooks per year, according to the National Center for Education Data Statistics. The cost of textbooks is often hidden, hard to plan for and is simply unaffordable for many students. According to recent research from the Education Data Initiative, 25% of students reported working extra hours to pay for their books and materials and a shocking 11% skipped meals to afford required course materials.
The price of course materials is a key barrier to enrollment and student success
The cost of college is preventing people from enrolling in higher education across the country. More than half (56%) of never‑enrolled and previously enrolled adults say cost is a “very important” reason why they have not enrolled or reenrolled in college, according to research conducted by Lumina Foundation-Gallup in 2024. Notably, this same report revealed that for a third of students considering dropping out, cost was the primary factor driving their decision to leave higher education.
Troublingly for university and college leaders facing declining enrollment, there is widespread misunderstanding about the true cost of college, as highlighted in Strada’s 2025 report. Many Americans overestimate the cost of higher education due to the opacity of the financial aid process.
While financial aid can help lower the cost of tuition, not all financial aid packages take into consideration the other costs associated with higher education, such as books and living expenses. The National Course Materials Survey revealed:
- Over 50% of students have taken fewer courses because of the high cost of course materials.
- 41% of students attributed a poor grade to the high cost of textbooks.
- 15% of students stated they had withdrawn from a course because the required course materials were too expensive.
Higher education leaders across the board are grappling with how to make their programs more affordable without reducing course offerings or compromising on quality. Lowering the cost of textbooks is a straightforward and effective way to reduce the financial burden on students.
The challenges faced by libraries in broadening access to textbooks
Libraries are under immense pressure across higher education institutions to equip students and faculty with required reading materials in an affordable and accessible format. The reality is that many libraries’ budgets are being cut and staff are overstretched, making it difficult to sufficiently resource the institution with the books it needs. Additionally, at colleges where adjunct faculty are common, many instructors have very limited time to build the syllabus in advance of teaching, putting more pressure on libraries to quickly source sufficient resources to meet student demand.
Digital textbooks were heralded as the solution to the textbook affordability crisis, but the Education Data Initiative reported eTextbook prices rose 37% from 2023 to 2024. The high cost of digital content and concurrent user limits imposed by many providers mean that most institutions can not afford to purchase enough eTextbooks to ensure every student has access to the resources they need.
Shifting the textbook model from ownership to access
For many learners today, especially Gen-Z, the library model is fundamentally at odds with how they expect to consume content. In an on-demand world where every song or movie can be instantly streamed, students struggle to adapt to a system that requires them to plan weeks ahead to guarantee affordable access to the required book. Many students, therefore, still rely on buying costly textbooks to complete required reading, which for lower-income students can be especially difficult and put a real strain on their well-being and academic success.
“Perlego is a website with a huge platform of academic books and is very useful because it allows you to access them all. Now, I don’t have to pay for each individual book.”
– Arlin, student at UMass Boston
Universities and colleges worldwide are rethinking how they equitably distribute textbooks to ensure that students are set up for success. Perlego partners with over 600 higher education institutions and organisations globally to reduce the cost of books and provide learners with unlimited access to over 1.5 million e-books from the world’s leading publishers. Learn how Perlego can significantly reduce the cost of textbooks for your students today.
