Rabia KanwalDo you have an idea about the average cost of a textbook for college students? The average price of a hard copy textbook for college students starts from $80 and may go up to $400. A postsecondary student approximately spends between $600 and $1400 on the purchase of textbooks and supplies for one academic year. The other study-related expenses and costs of living for international students are beyond our expectations.
Have you ever wished that textbooks should be free for college students? If yes, there are many educational support service organizations that are working to make your wish come true. They aim to provide free textbooks or discounted textbooks to bring down students’ financial costs. Free textbooks are among the major educational support students are getting all over the world. A little favor either in form of free textbooks for college students or scholarships helps students to get relief from their hardship.
The question arises here where you can get free textbooks for college students from? To help you out, we have discussed here the top 10 trusted websites from where students can get free textbooks. These textbooks can be print, hard copy books, digital books, eBooks, or downloadable PDF books. Those who like reading using their smartphones can simply download books from the vast library of digital books and if you like the fragrance of used college textbooks and prefer reading through hard copy books, you can get the print books as well for free.
Best Websites to Buy College Textbooks
From the best and most highly trusted website to the cheapest college textbooks website, we have rounded up here all reliable resources providing free access to academic material to students. When all these websites are working to provide you with free textbooks do you really need to buy textbooks for college? Of course, not. Simply visit these websites and find the book you need. Download the eBook or place an order to get delivery of the book to your address for free.
#1. SolutionInn
If you are no more interested in downloaded stuff and digital books, SolutionInn is a great choice to get hard-copy college textbooks for free. The company buys used college textbooks and delivers them to needy students on demand. It has a collection of thousands of textbooks on different subjects including business, science, engineering, computer, humanities, arts, social sciences, communication, mathematics, psychology, statistics, accounting, and so on. The service provider aims to bring down the educational expenses of residents and international students in the United States of America. It makes delivery of free textbooks to US students and Canadian students. It also provides free study membership to students letting them access millions of textbook solutions and video consultations from qualified tutors.
#2. Project Gutenberg
Educational support can help students to deal with psychological problems like stress and depression. The platforms like Project Gutenberg help students and general readers to find their needed book and download it in various readable formats. It is a digital library that unlocks access to thousands of digitized books including literature and more. The service provider aims to make as many free books available as possible. This digital library gets support from volunteers that perform different key roles in the digitization process of books starting from scanning and extending to proofreading and formatting for digital distribution. Free textbooks for college students are also available on this site and can be downloaded in PDF, MOBI, and various other formats compatible with smartphones, tablets, computers, and e-readers.
#3. Open Textbook Library
The Open Textbook Library is a digital library that provides free and open access to textbooks. The library includes over 800 textbooks in a wide range of subject areas. Open textbooks are a type of open education resource that is licensed under an open copyright license, such as Creative Commons, and are available for free use, distribution, and modification. These textbooks can be downloaded, printed, and shared online or offline, and can be customized to fit the needs of different educators and learners. Each textbook in the library is available in multiple formats, including PDF, EPUB, and HTML, and can be accessed online or downloaded for offline use. The library also provides instructors with ancillary materials such as PowerPoint slides, test banks, and discussion questions.
#4. Bookboon
Bookboon is another cheapest college textbooks website letting students buy hard copy books and download eBooks for free. The service provider is also working on free audio textbooks for college students. The free textbooks collection of Bookboon is available for download in PDF format covering a wide range of subjects, including business, economics, engineering, and IT. In addition to its free textbooks, the service provider also offers a premium service that provides access to over 1,000 high-quality textbooks and eBooks. The premium service is available on a subscription basis and offers a wide range of benefits, such as ad-free reading, offline access, and the ability to highlight and annotate the text.
#5. OpenStax
OpenStax is a trusted platform for the purchase of low-cost college textbooks. The organization also provides open licenses and free textbooks for college students covering a wide range of subject areas including mathematics, science, economics, business, management and leadership among others. These books are available In PDF, HTML, and various other formats. OpenStax also provides editable source files that can be customized. As well as providing textbooks, the organization also works to make learning easy and affordable both for educators and learners. It works with experts and qualified professionals to create and review textbooks to come up with solutions to meet students’ and instructors’ needs.
#6. OpenEd
It is an initiative by a publicly funded organization in British Columbia, Canada, that supports the development and adoption of open educational resources (OER) in higher education. OpenED is an extensive library including textbooks, course materials, and other educational resources that are freely available to anyone. The library covers a wide range of subjects, from business and science to arts and humanities. It offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional textbooks and course materials for both educators and learners.
#7. ScholarWorks
Scholar Works is an institutional repository managed by Grand Valley State University (GVSU) in Michigan, USA. It was created to provide open access to the scholarly and creative works of GVSU faculty, staff, and students, as well as to preserve and showcase the university’s intellectual output. It hosts a wide range of free textbooks for college students as well as scholarly and creative materials and journal articles. All material on this platform is freely available to the public and can be accessed and downloaded without restriction.
#8. ManyBooks
It is a website that offers free public-domain e-books for download. The website offers a vast collection of over 50,000 e-books in various genres, including fiction, non-fiction, romance, and science fiction. The website has a user-friendly interface letting learners easily navigate and browse the collection by genre, author, title, and language. The website also features a search bar that allows users to search for specific e-books. Once users find an e-book they want to download, they can choose from a variety of formats, including Kindle and PDF. The service provider also offers e-books in multiple languages having eBooks in over 40 languages.
#9. Open Library
Open Library is a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco, California aiming to provide free textbooks for college students. The website features a vast collection of over 20 million books, including both contemporary works and historic titles. Users can search for books by author, title, subject, and other criteria, and can browse through curated collections and recommendations. One of the key features of Open Library is its digital lending program, which allows learners to borrow e-books for a limited period of time.
#10. Wikibooks
Wikibooks provides open-content textbooks and educational materials for free. The project was launched in 2003 by the Wikimedia Foundation, which also operates Wikipedia and several other collaborative projects. Wikibooks provides educational materials in various subjects, including science, mathematics, social sciences, languages, and computer programming. The platform offers both primary and secondary school textbooks, as well as materials for vocational and professional training. All materials on Wikibooks are licensed under the creative commons license, which means that they can be freely shared, adapted, and used for any purpose, including commercial purposes.
The Bottom Line
Traditional textbooks can be prohibitively expensive, often costing hundreds of dollars per book, and creating a financial burden for students. Free textbooks can save significant amounts of money on their course materials. In addition to cost savings, free textbooks for college students is an important resource for educators and learners who are seeking affordable and high-quality textbook alternatives.
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