In this age of advancing digital media and skyrocketing costs for education, e-textbooks are a solid alternative to printed textbooks… or are they?
The average annual $1,186 price-tag for college textbooks has many students seeking alternatives to the high cost of books, yet the electronic format is not gaining favor as quickly as digital publishers and educators might expect.
Some students believe the e-textbook format does not represent a significant savings over traditional textbook purchases. Only nine percent of textbook purchases are e- textbook format.
In an effort to change that perception, colleges across the country are beginning to require the use of electronic textbooks.
According to USA Today, Indiana University was the first college to pilot a program three years ago requiring students buy the e-textbook in selected courses. Costs
for e-textbooks are deducted directly from the student’s account.
Other universities that have developed similar programs include the University of Wisconsin, the University of Virginia, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Minnesota and Cornell University.
By mandating the purchase of e-textbooks, universities are better positioned to negotiate a favorable price directly with the publisher.
E-books cost less to produce than printed texts. The average retail cost for an e-textbook is about half of its printed counterpart.
Students are able to realize measurable savings on college e-textbooks on many sites such as Textbooks.com, Chegg.com, CourseSmart.com or Kno.com.
Peter Funt of USA Today believes that wider use of electronic formats will cause greater competition amongst the larger publishing companies and presumably lower prices.
Skeptical students might consider this – the average annual savings with e-textbooks represents almost $600, enough for a new iPad to read them on.