Survey Finds 75% of College Students Stick to Print Textbooks

By Maryann Yin on Galley Cat, January 7, 2011

According to the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)‘s “Student Attitudes Toward Content in Higher Education” survey, 75 percent of college students prefer print textbooks over digital versions.

eBookNewser noted that 12 percent of those surveyed had purchased eBooks for convenience and lower prices. This group consisted primarily of men pursuing MBAs and long-distance learning students.

The BISG survey also revealed: “Renting a textbook – rather than purchasing or downloading – was preferred by 11% of surveyed students … Survey respondents said they often buy previous editions of a textbook (16% did this for their current class ) or international versions (18% did this at least once) … Print study guides, Campus Learning Management Systems – such as Blackboard and WebCT – and diagnostic self-tests held high value for survey respondents.”