Contact: publicrelations@nacs.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OBERLIN, OHIO (July 20, 2026)— College students reported spending slightly below last year on their course materials during the 2025-26 academic year, according to the Student Watch™: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course Materials: 2026 Report, the National Association of College Stores’ (NACS) annual survey of college students. Total course material spending for required materials totaled $338 per student for the year. Student spending this year is lower than at any point between 2007 and 2021 and about 50% of spending in 2007-08 when students paid $701 on average for course materials. More than half of students (54%) say they are satisfied with course-by-course course material access programs, which provide students first day access at below retail costs (15% extremely satisfied and 39% somewhat satisfied), while only14% say they are dissatisfied (4% extremely dissatisfied and 10% somewhat dissatisfied). Sixty-four percent of participants said the access program was somewhat or much better than other methods of obtaining course materials while 23% said it was about the same. Among non-participants, 66% believed course-by-course access programs would be a better option than other ways of obtaining course materials. Top reasons for satisfaction with access programs were convenience and having materials on the first day of class. Similar to last year, 72% of students said they had been assigned at least one free or non-paid-for material during the academic year. The number of students reporting being assigned free or non-paid materials has slowly been increasing over the years but has remained steady for the past few years. Non-paid materials included instructor handouts, website articles, class notes, professional journals and articles, web searches, social media, general consumer books (novels, for instance), and free textbooks. (While students did not pay for them directly, some of these sources are paid for by student tuition and fees, such as instructor-developed materials, journal articles, and digital book licenses at the campus library.) This year, 32% of students preferred print and 37% preferred digital, making digital the top format choice for students for the third year in a row. Preference for print materials has been declining over time. Meanwhile, preference for digital materials has increased steadily since 2016, even in years when preference for print remained steady. Older students and first-generation students had stronger preference for print. The top reasons students prefer digital were that they don’t have to carry a physical book around, access on multiple devices, ability to copy/paste or print, easier to read/navigate than print, and immediate access after purchase. More students this year reported using AI tools on a regular basis. About a quarter (26%) said they never use these tools and 16% said they only use them once or twice a term. Yet, around a third of students said they use AI tools once a week or more, an increase from last year. About 65% of students agreed that students should be involved in university AI decisions. More than two-thirds of students (68%) felt that universities should provide training for students on effective use of AI tools. And more than 80% said that an over-reliance on AI could hurt their academic performance. Around one in four students decided not to acquire at least one course material. However, students who skipped acquiring materials only spent $20 less on average per year than students who obtained all materials. Student Watch™ is developed by OnCampus Research™, the research arm of the National Association of College Stores. Other key findings from the report, which compiled responses from approximately 11,177 college students from 34 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada, and Jamaica, include: Tech spending increased sharply this year to $546, with more students purchasing a new computer/laptop. Most students who purchase materials purchase at least some of them from their campus store (62% of students who purchase). More students reported purchasing from the campus store online than in-person. In spring 2026, about 24% of students reported downloading a course material, unpaid, without proper authorization, violating copyright law. About a quarter of students say they may not have sufficient resources to cover college expenses including housing, food, transportation, and course materials. Members of the media interested in a copy of the report should email publicrelations@nacs.org . About The National Association of College Stores: The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the collegiate retailing industry. NACS represents campus retailers and industry-related companies that supply course materials and other merchandise and services to campus stores. NACS provides education and other resources that help its member stores support student success, the campus experience, and the missions of higher education institutions. About The NACS Foundation: In operation for almost four decades, the NACS Foundation is the only philanthropic resource for the campus store industry. Since its inception, it has disbursed more than $3 million for industry education and research and awarded more than 3,000 professional development grants to college store professionals.

Contact: publicrelations@nacs.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OBERLIN, OHIO (February 23, 2026)— Print is no longer the most widely used course material format by faculty. According to the Faculty Watch™: 2025 Report, the National Association of College Stores’ (NACS) annual survey of college teaching faculty, just 63% of faculty said they used a print material in one or more of their courses in the past year. Meanwhile, e-book use increased to 71%. In 2024, 70% of faculty used print materials in one or more of their classes, and 70% were using e-books. Regardless of use, more faculty still prefer print to digital. Faculty format preferences have changed very little in the past few years. College faculty, on average, required fewer course materials during the 2025-26 academic year.. Faculty only required 3.4 materials on average across the 3.7 courses they taught. This was the lowest number of materials required by faculty since Faculty Watch began tracking this measure in 2016. In 2024, faculty required 3.5 materials across 3.8 courses. In 2020, faculty required 6.0 materials on average across the same number of courses. More faculty this year report using open educational resources (OER). This year, 47% of faculty reported using OER. This is an increase from 44% last year and 39% in 2023. Faculty awareness of OER also increased this year. Faculty continue to report that certain challenges or barriers may keep them from using OER more often in their courses. More than a third of faculty (35%) had concerns about the quality of OER materials. Almost as many were not sure what titles or resources were available. About 20% of faculty said concern about the availability of instructor resources like slide decks or test banks was a barrier to adopting OER. Faculty have been slow to adopt and use AI. Yet more than half of faculty (54%) say they are using AI in their academic work. The most common use case is content creation (35%) followed by administrative tasks (30%). Only about half of faculty say they are open or very open to using AI tools in the academic work in the future. When asked to tell us what training or support they would find most helpful as they navigate AI in higher education, the top faculty answers were ethical guidelines, tool recommendations, and training workshops. Faculty raised concerns about possible misuse of AI by students in the classroom. Just 8% of faculty strongly agreed that they could spot when a student had used AI to complete or write an assignment. About a third (34%) agreed. Almost half of faculty (48%) strongly agreed that they worried about AI being used for plagiarism or cheating. Faculty interest in affordable access programs remains high. Affordable access programs, whether offered on a course-by-course basis when offered for all courses campus-wide, ensure students have access to all their required course materials on or before the first day of class at below retail prices with the choice to opt out of the programs. When surveying faculty who had not previously participated in an affordable access program, more than 56% of respondents expressed interest in a course-by-course access program and 57% of respondents indicated interest in programs that cover all courses. Most faculty (52% or more) participating in a course-by-course access program agreed that having the course materials provided through the program made it easier to plan, increased affordability, and made the first day of teaching more productive. About a third (32%) noticed improvements in student engagement. Other key findings from the report, which compiled responses from approximately 963 college faculty from 22 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, include: This year 58% of faculty knew the retail cost of all the materials assigned in their courses and 24% knew the retail cost of at least some of their materials. More than half of faculty (62%) said they would be unlikely to continue with an adoption if the course materials cost more than what they felt was reasonable for a student to pay. The top three areas where faculty wanted assistance from the college store were help with understanding affordability of course materials and if more affordable options exist (33% of faculty), help learning about alternative course material models (29% of faculty), and identifying and addressing accessibility concerns in course materials (also 29%). Almost all faculty told us that students are first required to use their book in either the first (73%) or second (20%) week of class. Students were typically required to read or use their book weekly or more often during the fall 2025 term. Faculty Watch™ is developed by OnCampus Research™, the research arm of the National Association of College Stores. Reporters interested in obtaining a copy of the report should email publicrelations@nacs.org . About The National Association of College Stores: About The National Association of College Stores: The National Association of College Stores (NACS) is the professional trade association representing the collegiate retailing community. Our members are primarily campus stores owned by colleges, universities, and other nonprofit K-20 institutions across the United States. We conduct extensive research into course material use and affordability, partner with student organizations and other stakeholders to advance course material affordability efforts, establish best practices, and promote industry standards.