Textbook Tuesday, traditionally the biggest day of the year for textbook sales, took place this week. This year, a new and growing market offers cheaper ways to buy textbooks. Online textbooks, open textbooks, rentals, and book swaps all provide accessible and affordable alternatives to traditional textbook purchases, and are expected to flourish this fall. The average student spends nearly $900 a year on books, and the publishing industry’s textbook pricing contributes greatly to the growing costs of higher education for students. Textbook publishers traditionally take in nearly $3.6 billion annually. But with the recent passage of the Higher Education Act, and new textbook outlets opening up alternative avenues for acquiring cheap books, students may save hundreds of dollars per semester.

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Read this NSNS post about online textbooks
Read this NSNS post about the Higher Education Act