NACS Student Watch Report: Course Materials Spending Dropped

Contact: publicrelations@nacs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OBERLIN, OHIO (Aug. 23, 2022)—College students, on average, spent less on their course materials during the 2021-22 academic year even though they took more courses and acquired a slightly greater number of materials, according to the Student Watch™: Attitudes and Behaviors toward Course Materials: 2022 Report, the National Association of College Stores’ (NACS) annual survey of college students. Total course material spending fell to $339 per student for the year, the lowest amount since NACS began tracking student spending in 1998 and less than half the spending in 2007-08 when students paid $701 on average for course materials.

In 2021-22, students acquired 8.6 materials for 8.9 courses, on average, compared to 8.5 materials for 8.6 courses in 2020-21. Cost-wise, that worked out to an average of $38 per course for materials in 2021-22, down substantially from $53 per course in 2020-21.

More students also acquired materials through an inclusive access (IA) program, also known as instant access or day-one access. Thirty-nine percent obtained materials through IA, compared to 33% the year before and 15% in 2018-19. (Inclusive access provides students with their course materials, usually in digital format, by the first day of class, at a discounted cost.)

Another factor that may have shaved students’ expenditures on course materials was that slightly more students (73% vs. 70% the previous year) said an instructor had assigned at least one material that was either free or not directly paid for. Most (70%) of these materials were provided to students through the campus learning management system, but other sources were 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 supported by student tuition and fees, such as instructor-developed materials and journal subscriptions at the campus library.)

Around one in four students decided not to acquire at least one course material. Students who skipped materials were also more likely to consider dropping out, suggesting these students are struggling with the costs of attendance. However, students who skipped acquiring materials only spent $24 less on average per year than students who obtained all materials.

About 11% of Student Watch respondents said they had pirated at least one course material or obtained materials through unauthorized means, usually in a PDF format. Students who pirated materials also typically spent less on course materials in total and tended to look for ways to reduce or eliminate spending on course materials, such as seeking out other nontraditional sources for materials, obtaining materials from other students, borrowing materials, and skipping one or more materials.

Funded by the NACS Foundation, 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 11,800 college students attending 40 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada, include:

• The campus bookstore remained the most popular place to obtain course materials, with 72% of students shopping there in person or on the store’s website for materials. Possibly influenced by the pandemic or the increase in digital course materials, more students purchased materials from the campus store’s e-commerce site than from the store’s physical location. Students obtained more than half of all purchased course materials (in units) from campus stores (physical and online combined), along with 45% of rental units.

• Course materials represented only 28% of “books and supplies” spending (a combination of course materials, technology, and supplies). In 2021-22, students did pay slightly more for technology ($700 compared to $694 in 2020-21) and supplies ($164 vs. $157).

• Half of students say they use digital course materials more now than they did before the pandemic, with only 9% using digital materials less.

• The majority (86%) of students use learning management systems (LMS) within their courses, a number that has been on the rise. In 2016, only 63% of students used the campus LMS.

• Many students returned to in-person instruction for the 2021-22 school year. Students gave the highest ratings for learning experience to in-person courses, but other course structures (such as hybrid classes, which have both classroom and online instruction) received higher ratings this year over the previous year.

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.