Average annual spending on college course materials fell to a decade low of $285 in the 2022–23 academic year, Student Watch found, according to a press release from the Association of American Publishers. That marks a 57 percent decline since 2012–13. “We’ve noticed a really consistent decrease in student course material spending over time,” said Lacey Wallace, research analyst for the National Association of College Stores, which produced the Student Watch report. “As the space shifts to digital, costs do decrease. A lot of inclusive-access programs are digital first.”
