Textbooks can be one of the largest expenses for students, but according to a recent study by the Student Public Interest Research Group, new technology could lessen that financial burden.
The Student PIRG study — “A Cover to Cover Solution: How Open Textbooks Are the Path to Textbook Affordability” — is a response to a change in the Higher Education Opportunity Act that was passed over the summer. The change aimed to make the process of buying textbooks cheaper and easier for students by requiring professors to post textbook lists for classes during class registration.
In its report, Student PIRG found that online alternatives to traditional print textbooks are both cheaper for students and easier for professors to update.
Additionally, Student PIRG reported that “open textbooks” — free or inexpensive textbooks that can be downloaded or printed from websites like Project Gutenberg or Google Books — are particularly efficient for students and can be used as either a printed or digital text. […]
“As a professor, I’ve noticed that many of my students are forgoing buying the textbooks due to financial hardship, especially since the economic downturn,” White said. “Their performance in the class suffers when they don’t have the book or access to the book.”
Read the full story at the Michigan Daily.
Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.