Students spent an average of $338 on required course materials in the 2025-26 academic year, about half the $701 they spent in 2007-08 (National Association of College Stores, Student Watch 2026). Sticker prices tell a different story: the BLS college textbooks price index averaged about 8.6% higher in 2025 than in 2024 and sits roughly 160% above its December 2001 base. The gap between the two is explained by how students now get their books: digital formats overtook print as faculty’s most-used format, Barnes and Noble Education’s automatic-billing program reached about 1.25 million students in spring 2026, and 47% of faculty now use open educational resources. Course materials are a small slice of the bill next to the figures in our college tuition statistics, but they are the slice that changed most. We aggregated data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, NCES, the National Association of College Stores, Bay View Analytics, SEC filings from Barnes and Noble Education, McGraw Hill investor disclosures, OpenStax and peer-reviewed studies indexed in ERIC.
TL;DR
- Students spent $338 on required course materials in 2025-26, vs $701 in 2007-08 (NACS, Student Watch 2026).
- The CPI for college textbooks fell about 1.1% from August 2025 to August 2026, while all-items CPI rose about 3.4% (BLS CPI-U).
- The textbook index averaged about 8.6% higher in 2025 than in 2024, after a 6.7% one-month jump in November 2024 (BLS CPI-U).
- Between 2016 and 2024, textbook prices rose about 2.6% on an annual-average basis vs about 30.7% for all items (BLS CPI-U).
- Colleges budget $1,235 for books and supplies at public 4-year schools, 2023-24 (NCES, Digest Table 330.40).
- About one in four students skipped at least one required course material (NACS, Student Watch 2026).
- 71% of faculty used e-books vs 63% print in the past year (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025).
- First Day Complete enrollment reached about 1.25 million students at 232 campus stores in spring 2026, up 31% (Barnes and Noble Education, FY2026 results).
- About 95% of McGraw Hill’s Higher Education revenue was digital in its June 2026 quarter (McGraw Hill, Q1 FY2027 results).
- 47% of faculty use OER, up from 39% two years earlier (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025).
- OpenStax reports 49 million students reached and $3.8 billion in cumulative savings (OpenStax Impact).
- Open textbooks show no learning penalty across 100,012 students (Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019).
1. Textbook Price Inflation: The BLS Index After a Flat Decade
The college textbooks index tells a two-act story. From its December 2001 base of 100 the index climbed to 234.6 by 2016, then went almost nowhere for eight years: the 2024 annual average of 240.7 was only about 2.6% above 2016, while the all-items CPI rose about 30.7% over the same period (234.6 to 240.7 for textbooks; 238.778 to 312.145 for all items) (BLS, CPI-U College textbooks, series CUUR0000SSEA011). In real terms, textbook prices fell for most of a decade as publishers shifted volume into digital licenses and access codes.
Act two began in November 2024, when the index jumped from 243.584 to 259.789 in a single month, a 6.7% increase. It has stayed near that higher plateau since, so the 2025 annual average of about 261.4 ran about 8.6% above 2024. By August 2026 the index was 259.660, slightly below August 2025 (262.490), while the all-items CPI rose from 323.976 to 334.980 (BLS, CPI-U All items). The question is no longer whether textbooks inflate faster than everything else, they have not since 2016, but whether the 2024 step-up becomes a new pattern.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| College textbooks index, August 2026 | 259.660 (December 2001 = 100) | BLS CPI-U, CUUR0000SSEA011 |
| Change, August 2025 to August 2026 | About -1.1% (262.490 to 259.660) | BLS CPI-U |
| All-items CPI change, August 2025 to August 2026 | About +3.4% (323.976 to 334.980) | BLS CPI-U, CUUR0000SA0 |
| Textbook annual average, 2016 to 2024 | 234.6 to 240.7 (about +2.6%) | BLS CPI-U |
| All-items annual average, 2016 to 2024 | 238.778 to 312.145 (about +30.7%) | BLS CPI-U |
| One-month jump, October to November 2024 | 243.584 to 259.789 (about +6.7%) | BLS CPI-U |
| Textbook annual average, 2024 to 2025 | About 240.7 to 261.4 (about +8.6%) | BLS CPI-U |
| Cumulative change since December 2001 | About +160% textbooks vs about +90% all items (176.7 to 334.980) | BLS CPI-U |
Context note: tuition is rising faster than textbooks right now. The CPI for college tuition and fees rose from 960.497 to 987.538 between August 2025 and August 2026, about 2.8% (BLS, CUUR0000SEEB01), and the broader educational books and supplies index rose about 1.1%, from 762.692 to 770.986 (BLS, CUUR0000SEEA). College Board puts 2025-26 published tuition and fees at $11,950 for public four-year in-state students (+2.9%) and $45,000 at private nonprofit four-year schools (+4.0%) (College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2025). The October 2025 CPI reading is missing because of the federal lapse in appropriations.
2. What Students Actually Spend vs What Colleges Budget
The most important number in this roundup is a contrast. Students reported spending $338 on required course materials in 2025-26, about 50% of the $701 they spent in 2007-08 (NACS, Student Watch 2026 press release). Meanwhile, institutions put $1,235 for books and supplies into the official cost of attendance at public four-year colleges and $1,484 at public two-year colleges in 2023-24 (NCES, Digest of Education Statistics Table 330.40). Those budgets are set by colleges for financial aid and include supplies; NACS measures student-reported spending on required materials only, so the gap is not an apples-to-apples overcharge. It does show that the aid budget still assumes a print-era bill.
Lower spending is not the same as full access. About one in four students decided not to acquire at least one course material, yet those students spent only $20 less per year on average than students who got everything, and about 24% reported downloading materials without authorization. Technology spending, at $546, now exceeds course material spending.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Spending on required course materials per student, 2025-26 | $338 | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Same measure, 2007-08 | $701 | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Student technology spending, 2025-26 | $546 | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Students who obtained all required materials | 77% | OnCampus Research, Student Watch 2026 |
| Students who skipped at least one material / savings from skipping | About 1 in 4 / $20 per year | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Students who downloaded materials without authorization | About 24% | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Books and supplies budget, 2023-24 (public 4-year / private nonprofit / for-profit / public 2-year) | $1,235 / $1,239 / $926 / $1,484 | NCES, Digest Table 330.40 |
| Books and supplies budget, 2013-14 (same order) | $1,250 / $1,251 / $1,190 / $1,371 | NCES, Digest Table 330.40 |
Context note: books and supplies are about 4.4% of the $28,349 on-campus cost of attendance at public four-year institutions in 2023-24 (1,235 / 28,349; NCES Table 330.40). Budgets at public four-year schools fell slightly in a decade ($1,250 to $1,235) while public two-year budgets rose ($1,371 to $1,484). Student Watch 2026 surveyed about 11,177 students at 34 two- and four-year colleges in the US, Canada and Jamaica; about a quarter said they may not have sufficient resources. Borrowing pressure shows up in our student loan debt statistics.
3. Digital Overtakes Print in the Course Materials Mix
The format shift is now visible from both sides of the lectern. Only 63% of faculty used a print material in one or more courses in the past year, down from 70% in 2024, while 71% used e-books (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 press release). Students prefer digital too, 37% vs 32% for print, the third consecutive year digital led. Faculty are also assigning less: an average of 3.4 materials across 3.7 courses, the lowest since tracking began in 2016 and down from 6.0 in 2020.
Faculty preference lags behavior. Bay View Analytics found 77% of faculty agree digital gives greater flexibility, yet 42% still think students learn better from print, and only 10% of courses are print-only (Bay View Analytics, Deeply Digital 2025). On the publisher side, McGraw Hill reported $190.1 million of Higher Education digital revenue in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, about 95% of its $199.8 million segment revenue (McGraw Hill, Q1 FY2027 results). For the consumer side of the same shift, see our ebook statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty using print materials | 63% (70% in 2024) | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Faculty using e-books | 71% (70% in 2024) | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Required materials per faculty member | 3.4 across 3.7 courses (6.0 in 2020) | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Students preferring digital vs print | 37% vs 32% | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Courses digital-only / print-only / both formats | 29% / 10% / 61% | Bay View Analytics, Deeply Digital 2025 |
| Faculty agreeing digital is more flexible / students learn better from print | 77% / 42% | Bay View Analytics, Deeply Digital 2025 |
| McGraw Hill Higher Education digital revenue, quarter to June 2026 | $190.1M of $199.8M (about 95%), vs $168.8M a year earlier | McGraw Hill, Q1 FY2027 results |
| McGraw Hill Higher Education recurring revenue | $182.1M, +14.1% | McGraw Hill, Q1 FY2027 results |
Context note: faculty cost awareness is uneven. 58% of faculty said they knew the retail cost of all their materials and 24% knew the cost of some, while 62% said they would discontinue an adoption if costs exceeded reasonable thresholds (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025, survey of about 963 faculty at 22 colleges). In Bay View’s ratings, cost to students scored 71%, the lowest of the curriculum attributes rated. Students who learn with screen readers and audio versions of digital texts are part of the trend tracked in our online learning statistics.
4. Inclusive Access and Automatic Billing: The Growth Engine
Automatic billing, marketed as inclusive access, equitable access or First Day, is where the course materials market is growing. Barnes and Noble Education’s First Day Complete reached about 1.25 million students at 232 campus stores in spring 2026, up 31% from 957,000 a year earlier, and the company expects about 1.4 million in fall 2026 (BNED FY2026 earnings release, SEC Exhibit 99.1). First Day program revenue rose 28.0% to $760.1 million, about 44% of the company’s $1.715 billion total revenue (760.1 / 1,715).
Students who use these programs mostly accept them, but not overwhelmingly: 54% are satisfied, 14% dissatisfied, and 66% of non-participants said course-by-course programs would be the better option than campus-wide ones. Faculty awareness is weak, with 51% of faculty unaware of these programs in Bay View’s 2022-23 survey, up from 44% in 2021-22 (Bay View Analytics, OER reports). And the academic payoff is unproven: a study of Tennessee’s statewide automatic-billing eTextbook pilot across 13 community colleges and 141 courses found no significant differences in academic performance versus prior years (Spica, Community College Journal of Research and Practice 2023). The model wins on convenience and day-one access, not on measured learning.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First Day Complete enrollment, spring 2026 | About 1.25 million students, 232 campus stores (+31% from 957,000) | BNED FY2026 results |
| First Day Complete enrollment, fall 2026 (expected) | About 1.4 million (+about 23% from fall 2025) | BNED FY2026 results |
| BNED First Day program revenue, fiscal 2026 | $760.1M (+28.0%) | BNED FY2026 results |
| First Day Complete / First Day sales, fiscal 2026 | $500.8M (+33%) / $259.3M (+19%) | BNED Form 10-K, fiscal 2026 |
| Student satisfaction with access programs | 54% satisfied (15% extremely), 14% dissatisfied | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Participants rating access program better than buying separately | 64% | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Faculty interest in course-by-course / campus-wide programs | 56% / 57% | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Faculty unaware of inclusive access programs | 51% (2022-23), 44% (2021-22) | Bay View Analytics, 2023 |
Context note: BNED operated 1,116 campus bookstores as of May 2, 2026 (647 physical, 469 virtual), according to its fiscal 2026 Form 10-K. McGraw Hill attributes its Higher Education growth to ‘Inclusive Access momentum’ and reports gaining about 5 points of market share over four fiscal years, citing MPI. The publisher and retailer coalition Affordable Access says more than 1,500 colleges offer these programs and cites Tyton Partners for $33 average savings per material (Affordable Access); these are industry claims we could not verify against the underlying Tyton report.
5. Open Educational Resources: Adoption, Savings and Outcomes
Free and openly licensed textbooks are the main alternative to both retail and automatic billing, and their adoption is climbing. 47% of faculty used OER in 2025, up from 44% a year earlier and 39% two years earlier (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025), and 72% of students said they had been assigned at least one free material (NACS, Student Watch 2026). Bay View’s 2024-25 survey of 3,447 faculty at 1,415 institutions found 59% aware of OER and 33% using OER as required material; a decade earlier only 25% were aware and 5.3% of courses used open textbooks (Bay View Analytics, OER reports).
The quality objection has weakened. Faculty in the same Bay View survey gave OER an A grade 41% of the time vs 35% for the Big Three publishers. The research agrees: a meta-analysis found no difference in learning between open and commercial textbooks across 22 studies and 100,012 students (g = 0.01), and lower withdrawal rates with open textbooks (odds ratio 0.71, N = 78,593) (Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019). Supply has scaled too: OpenStax reports 49 million students reached and $3.8 billion in savings, and the Open Textbook Library lists 1,886 open textbooks.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Faculty using OER | 47% (2025), 44% (2024), 39% (2023) | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Faculty aware of OER / using OER as required material | 59% / 33% | Bay View Analytics, Deeply Digital 2025 |
| Faculty OER awareness and course adoption, 2015-16 | 25% / 5.3% of courses | Bay View Analytics, Opening the Textbook 2016 |
| OpenStax students reached / savings, all-time | 49 million / $3.8 billion | OpenStax Impact |
| OpenStax savings, annual / share of US colleges using | $374.3 million / 71% | OpenStax Impact |
| Open Textbook Library catalog | 1,886 open textbooks | Open Textbook Library, University of Minnesota |
| Learning outcomes, open vs commercial (meta-analysis) | g = 0.01, k = 22, N = 100,012 | Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019 |
| Kwantlen ZTC program reach / savings | 24,000+ students, nearly 800 courses / about CA$13 million | Jhangiani, Pakkal and Xia, Open Praxis 2025 |
Context note: barriers remain. 35% of faculty cite quality concerns about OER and 20% worry about missing instructor resources (NACS, Faculty Watch 2025). Longitudinal data from Canada’s first zero textbook cost program, covering 13,605 course sections from 2018 to 2022, found comparable fill and withdrawal rates and slightly higher mean GPAs in ZTC sections (Jhangiani, Pakkal and Xia, Open Praxis 2025). An earlier study of 21,822 students reported higher grades and lower DFW rates with OER, with larger gains for Pell recipients and part-time students (Colvard, Watson and Park, IJTLHE 2018), a population that overlaps heavily with students in our community college transfer statistics.
Summary: College Textbook Prices & Digital Access by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Spending on required course materials, 2025-26 | $338 per student | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Same measure, 2007-08 | $701 | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Students skipping at least one required material | About 1 in 4 | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| College textbooks CPI, August 2025 to August 2026 | About -1.1% | BLS CPI-U |
| All-items CPI, August 2025 to August 2026 | About +3.4% | BLS CPI-U |
| Textbook CPI annual average, 2024 to 2025 | About +8.6% | BLS CPI-U |
| Textbook CPI annual average, 2016 to 2024 | About +2.6% | BLS CPI-U |
| Textbook CPI since December 2001 | About +160% | BLS CPI-U |
| Books and supplies budget, public 4-year, 2023-24 | $1,235 | NCES, Digest Table 330.40 |
| Faculty using e-books vs print | 71% vs 63% | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| Courses that are print-only | 10% | Bay View Analytics, 2025 |
| McGraw Hill Higher Education revenue that is digital | About 95% (quarter to June 2026) | McGraw Hill, Q1 FY2027 |
| First Day Complete enrollment, spring 2026 | About 1.25 million (+31%) | BNED FY2026 results |
| BNED First Day program revenue, fiscal 2026 | $760.1M (+28.0%) | BNED FY2026 results |
| Student satisfaction with access programs | 54% satisfied, 14% dissatisfied | NACS, Student Watch 2026 |
| Faculty using OER | 47% | NACS, Faculty Watch 2025 |
| OpenStax cumulative student savings | $3.8 billion | OpenStax Impact |
| Open vs commercial textbook learning effect | g = 0.01 (no difference), N = 100,012 | Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019 |
| Open textbook withdrawal odds ratio | 0.71 | Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019 |
Methodology and Sources
Every figure above was read during research for this article in a primary page, dataset, filing or abstract. Percentage changes marked ‘about’ are our own calculations from the published index values or dollar amounts, with the inputs shown in the text. Statistics that circulate on textbook-savings blogs without a primary document (for example, long-run ‘textbook prices rose X%’ claims attributed to news outlets) were excluded.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U series: College textbooks (CUUR0000SSEA011), All items (CUUR0000SA0), College tuition and fees (CUUR0000SEEB01), Educational books and supplies (CUUR0000SEEA)
- NCES: Digest of Education Statistics, Table 330.40 (2024 edition)
- College Board: Trends in College Pricing 2025, highlights
- National Association of College Stores: Student Watch 2026 press release (July 2026), Faculty Watch 2025 press release (February 2026), OnCampus Research, Student Watch
- Bay View Analytics: Deeply Digital 2025, OER and inclusive access report series
- Barnes and Noble Education (SEC filings): FY2026 earnings release, Exhibit 99.1 (July 2026), Form 10-K for fiscal year ended May 2, 2026
- McGraw Hill: Fiscal First Quarter 2027 results
- Open textbook providers: OpenStax Impact, Open Textbook Library
- Industry coalition: Affordable Access
- Peer-reviewed research (via ERIC): Clinton and Khan, AERA Open 2019, Colvard, Watson and Park, IJTLHE 2018, Spica, Community College Journal of Research and Practice 2023, Jhangiani, Pakkal and Xia, Open Praxis 2025
- Data watch: NACS Student Watch spending ($338) and NCES cost-of-attendance budgets ($1,235) measure different things (student-reported required materials vs institution-set books and supplies allowances) and should not be subtracted from each other; Student Watch also includes Canadian and Jamaican institutions. BNED reports spring 2026 First Day Complete enrollment as about 1,249,301 in its earnings release and 1,250,585 in its 10-K; we round to 1.25 million. Bay View’s OER landing page lists 2024-25 awareness at 56% and required use at 26%, while the Deeply Digital report page shows 59% and 33%; we cite the report page and flag the conflict. The BLS textbook series has no October 2025 value (lapse in appropriations), so the 2025 annual average is our mean of 11 published months. The 2016 to 2024 comparison uses BLS annual averages. The full Student Watch report is paywalled, so rental and used-book shares were not available; the US PIRG Fixing the Broken Textbook Market report, the GAO, the Florida Virtual Campus student survey and Pearson’s results PDF were blocked or unreadable during research and are not cited. Colvard et al. (2018) and Clinton and Khan (2019) are older baselines (most recent available data for those meta-level findings). Affordable Access figures are industry claims.
Last updated: October 3, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next refresh is expected when NACS publishes its next Faculty Watch report and BLS releases the September 2026 CPI.