Students rethink buying textbooks

by Quintarius Reynolds

Students Rethink Textbook Purchases as Costs and Options Evolve At Stonehill College. At Stonehill College, students are getting pickier about whether they actually buy their textbooks, weighing rising prices against what genuinely helps them learn. With the average college student spending over $1,000 a year on books and supplies, plenty of people now opt for rentals, digital versions, or free online materials instead of shelling out for brand new print copies.

“I’ll often buy the physical copy so I can annotate it. but if it’s overpriced I buy it online so it’s a cheaper price,” said Stonehill student Violet Falvey, capturing the constant trade off between budget and doing well in class.

Falvey’s approach lines up with what’s happening on a lot of campuses. National education data shows fewer students are buying brand-new textbooks than they did a decade ago. Rentals, used options, inclusive access programs, and digital editions have cut down the upfront hit and added flexibility. Even so, some students still argue that a physical textbook is hard to replace.

For Falvey, owning the book matters because of the way she studies. Underlining, highlighting, and writing notes in the margins keeps her locked in. Stonehill student Madison Goodman is on the same page.

“Yes, I buy my textbooks because I enjoy the sensation of a real textbook and don’t like looking at the online version I like to annotate it,” Goodman said.

For students like them, textbooks aren’t just boxes to check for a syllabus. They’re tools. A real book in your hands can make reading feel more deliberate and focused, especially in discussion heavy classes or courses where the reading load is serious.

Other students treat the decision more like a straight cost-benefit question. Paige Medico, a Stonehill track athlete, said she buys most of her books because she feels she needs them.

“Yeah I do for most of them ’cause I need it to learn,” Medico said.

Medico added that when professors consistently use the textbook for lectures or assignments, the purchase feels worth it. When the book is clearly built into the course, students tend to see the value instead of feeling like they’re paying for something that’ll sit unopened.

But not everyone thinks textbooks are a must.

“Nah, we barely use them only if it’s an online course,” said Marcus McCoy, another Stonehill track athlete. McCoy explained that in some of his classes, professors lean on slides, handouts, or online readings more than a traditional textbook.

Jade Roycroft, also a Stonehill track athlete, takes an even more budget first approach.

“I don’t usually because they’re either free online or I just don’t feel like I need them,” Roycroft said.

Roycroft said that if she can track down a free PDF or if the professor posts enough materials, she’d rather keep the money. For students balancing tuition, housing, and everyday expenses, textbooks can start to feel optional when workable alternatives are already there.

This change isn’t just a Stonehill thing. Students at nearby Bridgewater State University and UMass Dartmouth describe similar patterns. At Bridgewater State, many students depend on used book swaps or digital rentals to cut costs. At UMass Dartmouth, big lecture courses often provide materials through course platforms, which reduces the need for printed textbooks.

Across campuses, the theme is pretty consistent: students aren’t automatically buying every textbook the second the semester starts. More often, they wait and see how much the book will actually show up in class.

From the bookstore side, the market has shifted a lot because of these habits. Stan Stwik, market leader for the Follett College Store that supplies Stonehill’s bookstore, still sees textbooks as a key academic resource.

“I think students should buy their textbooks because it’s a resource to do better in class it’s assigned by the instructor that teaches, so it gives the best chance to get the most from that class,” Stwik said.

At the same time, Stwik said the industry has had to adjust.

“I think it has evolved quite a bit over the years and we are able to offer students options better than we had in the past like rental or digital that lowers the cost,” he said.

Rentals, digital access codes, and inclusive access options give students cheaper formats to choose from. Those shifts reflect both the financial strain students are under and the ongoing move toward tech-based publishing.

So while some students see textbooks as nonnegotiable for doing well, others see them as dependent on the class. Most decisions come down to three things: the price, whether the professor actually uses the book, and what learning style works best.

For Falvey and Goodman, being able to annotate and physically interact with the text makes the cost feel justified. For Roycroft and McCoy, saving money and leaning on other materials is the smarter move. Medico lands somewhere in the middle, buying books when she’s convinced they’re necessary to understand the course.

As textbook prices keep climbing and digital choices keep growing, the traditional bookstore model continues to get reshaped. Students aren’t passive buyers anymore they’re consumers making careful, calculated calls.

In the end, textbooks are still a major part of college academics, but the way students get them is changing. Whether it’s flipping through highlighted pages in a dorm room or scrolling a digital copy on a laptop, students today are redefining what it means to “buy the book.”