SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
EXPLORE +
  • About infoDOCKET
  • Academic Libraries on LJ
  • Research on LJ
  • News on LJ
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Libraries
    • Academic Libraries
    • Government Libraries
    • National Libraries
    • Public Libraries
  • Companies (Publishers/Vendors)
    • EBSCO
    • Elsevier
    • Ex Libris
    • Frontiers
    • Gale
    • PLOS
    • Scholastic
  • New Resources
    • Dashboards
    • Data Files
    • Digital Collections
    • Digital Preservation
    • Interactive Tools
    • Maps
    • Other
    • Podcasts
    • Productivity
  • New Research
    • Conference Presentations
    • Journal Articles
    • Lecture
    • New Issue
    • Reports
  • Topics
    • Archives & Special Collections
    • Associations & Organizations
    • Awards
    • Funding
    • Interviews
    • Jobs
    • Management & Leadership
    • News
    • Patrons & Users
    • Preservation
    • Profiles
    • Publishing
    • Roundup
    • Scholarly Communications
      • Open Access

July 28, 2015 by Gary Price

National Association of College Stores Study Shows Continued Decline in Annual Student Spending on Course Materials

July 28, 2015 by Gary Price

From NACS:

National Association of College Stores’ (NACS) twice-yearly survey of college students in the U.S.
The study, Student Watch: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course Materials: Spring 2015 shows that average annual spending by students on required course materials has dropped from $701 in 2007/2008 to $563 in 2014/2015. The $563 average also dropped approximately $75, from $638, between the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 academic years.
[Clip]
While student spending on course materials has declined, the number of course materials being acquired has remained consistent across fall academic terms. In Fall 2009, students obtained 5.3 course materials; 5.0 were acquired in Fall 2013, and students purchased 5.3 in Fall 2014. These numbers exclude course materials obtained for free (borrowing, downloading, sharing).
“This is a true reflection of a decrease in prices,” Riddle says. “This number has remained relatively consistent over time; however, student spending on course materials has continued to drop. So this information suggests that on average, the cost of course materials is slowly decreasing while the number of required course materials students are obtaining for each class may be slightly increasing.”
Other factors influencing the trend in declining student spending include:

  • Faculty are more aware of student cost concerns and are working with campus stores to source less costly materials and use the same course materials for multiple semesters.
  • College stores are increasing used course material options and enhanced buyback pricing.
  • Students have become savvier shoppers, spending more time researching affordable options through multiple outlets. Price comparison software has enabled much of this flexibility.
  • Open Educational Resources (OER), digital formats, and borrowed materials have combined to help students spend less overall on required materials.

Digital Materials

While 46% of students say they prefer print course materials because of the usability and familiarity of print (despite a likely higher price tag), use of digital course materials are slowly but steadily climbing in use, about three percent this academic year.
The survey found that when it comes to digital course materials, convenience is the primary reason behind their purchase. The ability to easily transport the material is the top reason for going digital, with price ranking second in importance and the versatility of the digital functionality, like search and find, coming in third. Students who prefer digital appreciate the interactive nature of the materials, which they indicate improves their ability to study and learn the coursework, Riddle said.
Digital access codes are also being required for more classes and obtained by more students, according to the study. During the spring 2015 term, 59% of students were assigned a digital component to their coursework, and 80% of them acquired at least one.

Read the Complete Summary
Direct to a Few Graphics From Report & Ordering Info For Full Tex
See Also: New options driving down cost of college textbooks (via Seattle Times)

Filed under: News

SHARE:

About Gary Price

Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Job Zone

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Infodocket Posts

Report: "Australian Authors to Receive Compensation for E-Book Loans for First Time"

From The Sydney Morning Herald: Authors, illustrators, and editors will be compensated for e-book and audiobook library borrowings for the first time, in a move by the federal government to ...

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Publishes  Customer Research Agenda

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has posted its . A draft Customer Research Agenda was open for public review and comment ...

Report: "A Watermark for Chatbots Can Expose Text Written by an AI"

From MIT Technology Review: Hidden patterns purposely buried in AI-generated texts could help identify them as such, allowing us to tell whether the words we’re reading are written by a ...

The Accessibility of Federal Information and Data: A Brief Overview of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Updated...

From the Congressional Research Service: Nearly one in four Americans has a disability, according to 2018 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Congress has recognized that in addition to making ...

NY Times: "New York Public Library Acquires Joan Didion’s Papers"

From The NY Times: When [Joan] Didion died in 2021 at age 87, the news set off an outpouring of tributes to a writer who fused penetrating insight and idiosyncratic personal voice, ...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: María Estorino Named Vice Provost for University Libraries and University Librarian

Below, Find the Full Text of a Letter Sent to the Carolina Community From Kevin M. Guskiewicz University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz and J. ...

Boston Public Library Celebrates Black History Month with Annual “Black Is…” Booklist & Special Events

From the Boston Public Library: The Boston Public Library is proud to contribute to the celebration of Black History Month with its annual “Black Is…” booklist. The booklist aims to commemorate ...

Research Resources: New Online Tool Provides Health Snapshot of All 435 U.S. Congressional Districts (Congressional District Health Dashboard)

From NYU Langone: Researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, unveiled the Congressional District Health Dashboard (CDHD), a new online tool that ...

Report: "cOAlition S Confirms the End of Its Financial Support for Open Access Publishing Under Transformative Arrangements After...

From a cOAlition S  Announcement: Transformative arrangements – including Transformative Agreements and Transformative Journals – were developed to encourage subscription journals to transition to full and immediate open access within a defined timeframe (31st December 2024, ...

Library of Congress: Hannah Sommers Appointed New Associate Librarian for Researcher and Collections Services

From the Library of Congress: The Library of Congress announced today the appointment of Hannah Sommers as the new Associate Librarian for Researcher and Collections Services in the Library Collections and Services Group. In this role, Sommers will lead the future of the Library’s collections and the services it delivers to researchers and users. She will be central ...

Virginia Tech: University Libraries Dean Tyler Walters Appointed Board Chair of Academic Preservation Trust; IEEE Computer Society 2023...

As Book Bans Increase Across the Country, a Boston University Scholar is Fighting Back Core’s Library Resources & Technical Services Journal Goes Fully Open Access Digital Image Processing: It’s All ...

Funding: Library Freedom Project Receives $1 Million Grant Award From the Mellon Foundation to Advance Critical Privacy and...

Here’s the Full Text of the Library Freedom Project (LFP) Announcement:   Library Freedom Project (LFP) has been awarded $1,000,000 from the Mellon Foundation to expand the program’s work. For ...

ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Tweets by infoDOCKET

ADVERTISEMENT

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • Programs+
  • Design
  • Leadership
  • People
  • COVID-19
  • Advocacy
  • Opinion
  • INFOdocket
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Booklists
  • Prepub Alert
  • Book Pulse
  • Media
  • Readers' Advisory
  • Self-Published Books
  • Review Submissions
  • Review for LJ

Awards

  • Library of the Year
  • Librarian of the Year
  • Movers & Shakers 2022
  • Paralibrarian of the Year
  • Best Small Library
  • Marketer of the Year
  • All Awards Guidelines
  • Community Impact Prize

Resources

  • LJ Index/Star Libraries
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies

Events & PD

  • Online Courses
  • In-Person Events
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Submit Features/News
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Careers at MSI


© 2023 Library Journal. All rights reserved.


© 2022 Library Journal. All rights reserved.