By: Leif Bromme
College life comes with expenses: tuition, meal plans, housing and various fees. In addition to
these charges are the exorbitant prices associated with textbooks and course materials.
According to a 2024-25 analysis by the College Board, students at a four-year university spend
about $340 each year on textbooks. The individual amounts vary significantly depending on
professors and classes. To cut costs, many students have turned to used textbooks or electronic
books (eBooks).
National Student Services suggests that some eBooks may sell for up to 50% less than
their physical counterparts, making them significantly more feasible for those wishing to save
money. The prevalence of bundled courseware and ever-updating textbook editions,
however, can send even eBook prices into the stratosphere.
A reduction in the price of eBooks to provide a budget-friendly option would be clearly
beneficial for students and would do little to hamper the success of the textbook
industry. Companies already make a profit on physical editions; with eBooks, many of the
expenses associated with printing, binding and shipping disappear entirely.
Most markets are driven by competition. Businesses vie for the same customers, attracting
clientele by offering lower prices than their competitors. Consumers also help lower prices. If a
product becomes too expensive, they stop buying it.
The textbook industry functions differently. Business Insider reports that over 80% of the
industry is dominated by just five companies: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Pearson Education,
Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education and Scholastic. These titans have already enmeshed
themselves with the education system, limiting the need for competitive pricing.\
More importantly, there is no threat that students will stop buying textbooks if the prices rise too
high. Often selected by professors who consider course relevance before cost, textbooks are not
something that students can simply opt out of.
Taking advantage of this, textbook companies have inflated prices at an unreasonable
rate. According to a 2026 report from the Education Data Initiative, textbook prices are rising
at three times the rate of inflation and doubling every 11 years.
Strategies like pirating online files or finding used copies may work for some students, but many
companies release frequently updated editions with slight changes that invalidate past issues.
Even eBooks offer little help; companies have found ways to increase costs with access codes –
links that allow students to view the textbook along with coursework and interactive elements.
With the simple sharing of a file, education companies make significant profits on eBooks just as
they do with physical books that require printing, binding and delivery. The
effort to turn eBooks into temporary-access products hasn’t just made books more
expensive upon purchase. While students can sometimes resell physical copies to recoup some
money, the same cannot be done with eBooks.
Making eBooks more affordable does not risk making physical ones irrelevant. While digital
copies offer portability, physical books offer reliable information without the need
for the internet or charging cables. In addition, many books with built-in questions and
homework assignments are much easier to manage as a physical
workbook. Those who want a more tactile experience can still purchase physical copies for the
full price.
Ultimately, textbook prices are inflated because the industry has limited competition and
exploited captive customers. Until one of those things changes, prices will remain high.
While it is difficult to influence the decisions of corporations, it is possible to provide cheaper
options at the university level. When professors select materials that they themselves will not
have to pay for, price considerations can fall by the wayside. There are other options available –
both digital and physical – that provide similar information without the latest price-hiked edition
or limited-time access code.These include Rice University’s OpenStax, which provides free
online peer-reviewed textbooks, LibreTexts, a non-profit digital library with textbook options,
and the Open Textbook Library.
In a system where normal consumer pressure has no effect on prices – one where the selector of
a product is not the one who purchases it – universities have a responsibility to introduce that
pressure themselves. They can help professors provide budget-friendly textbooks. They
can prioritize open educational resources and ownership over limited-time access codes.
Even if eBook prices continue to rise, we have at our disposal the power to make students’ lives
a few dollars easier
