August 10, 2026
The rising popularity of digital course materials is helping students save money, a new survey shows.
During the 2025–26 academic year, students spent an average of $338 on college course materials, including textbooks and digital materials, according to the annual “Student Watch” report the National Association of College Stores published last week. That number represents a 44 percent decline in spending on course materials over the past decade. The report, which is based on a survey of more than 12,000 students across 30 higher education institutions, attributes the drop to the simultaneous increase in the availability of digital materials.
This year about 40 percent of purchased course materials were digital, compared to about 38 percent last year.
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