E-Textbook Dissatisfaction Grows as Students Progress Through School

Anybody who says Facebook has totally lost the college crowd is misinformed. College students spend an average of 7.6 hours on that social networking site every week, compared to just under five hours on YouTube and three hours each on Twitter and Instagram.

Ninety-six percent of undergraduates own a laptop, and these same individuals spend about 32 hours each week on it between doing school-related work and taking recreation. And although the typical student has at least two devices by which to access the Internet and many have three, they still prefer to use their laptops in the classroom over any other mobile device.

These statistics come out of a survey sponsored by textbook price comparison site CampusBooks and run by marketing research firm Campbell Rinker. The study questioned 1,072 undergraduates in the United States with demographics that matched up to those in colleges overall. That means about six in 10 respondents were female and seven in 10 Caucasian. The survey results had about a 3 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.

Nearly half of students have been assigned an e-textbook for a course, but they're not uniformly happy about it. Only 44 percent were at least somewhat or very happy using an e-book; 39 percent were somewhat or very unhappy. The researchers noted that dissatisfaction with e-textbooks appears to rise slightly as students progress through school.

In spite of their dissatisfaction, however, the preference for e-books gains in popularity as students get older. That may be owing to financial considerations. The report found that as students age, they're more likely to pay for books themselves.

The survey results said that 85 percent of students buy textbooks online, 56 percent through the college bookstore and 28 percent from friends, family or classmates who have taken the course previously. New textbooks and those purchased from the bookstore are more likely to be paid out of financial aid. More than three in four students prefer used textbooks and half choose to rent when they can.

As a follow-on to that, the survey asked people to specify how they take notes in class. Nine in 10 said they do it on paper; 35 percent do on a laptop; and only nine percent do in the textbook itself. That suggests, the researchers stated, "that students are very mindful of resale value, and try to be careful to keep the books they purchase free of marks so that they can be sold back for a higher price."

"This study reveals a great deal about a college student's preferences and habits, especially in terms of the amount of time college students spend on social media sites, use their phones and how they buy their textbooks," noted CampusBooks CEO Jeff Cohen. "While every student's situation is unique, it is important that he or she is aware of the different options available when selecting college textbooks and materials."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • open laptop in a college classroom with holographic AI icons like a brain and data charts rising from the screen

    4 Ways Universities Are Using Google AI Tools for Learning and Administration

    In a recent blog post, Google shared an array of education customer stories, showcasing ways institutions are using AI tools like Gemini and NotebookLM to transform both learning and administrative tasks.

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Launches Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has introduced a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.

  • three main icons—a cloud, a user profile, and a padlock—connected by circuit lines on a blue abstract background

    Report: Identity Has Become a Critical Security Perimeter for Cloud Services

    A new threat landscape report points to new cloud vulnerabilities. According to the 2025 Global Threat Landscape Report from Fortinet, while misconfigured cloud storage buckets were once a prime vector for cybersecurity exploits, other cloud missteps are gaining focus.

  • Stylized illustration showing cybersecurity elements like shields, padlocks, and secure cloud icons on a neutral, minimalist digital background

    Microsoft Announces Security Advancements

    Microsoft has announced major security advancements across its product portfolio and practices. The work is part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multiyear cybersecurity transformation the company calls the largest engineering project in company history.