This is a sponsored guest post written by J Bradley on behalf of The Student Book Exchange. Post powered by Sponzai.

The price to receive a higher education continues to rise every year.  One significant portion of the growing total cost is textbooks.  Each semester students can pay anywhere from $200-$700 on textbooks.  The amount depends on courses (math and science are the most expensive) and the availability of used books. Students spend a lot of time and energy to find new ways to avoid spending these ridiculous sums of money on books they may only use for a few months of their lives.

A large part of the high cost of textbooks is the fact that textbook publishers frequently release new editions of their books (frequently the math and science books) every year and then professors require the newest editions for their assigned course reading material.  This makes it very difficult for students to save money by purchasing the ‘used’ versions.

Now there is a new option for students to save: Ebooks.  Ebooks are downloadable versions of common college textbooks.  Students can access the text on the web or download to their personal computers and the cost is up to 50% less than that of a paper book.   It is a great option for those who don’t want to or can’t spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks every year, and they don’t have to lug around heavy books!

There are a couple of drawbacks to ebooks  however;  the option to sell the book when finished doesn’t exist, and students must print out whatever pages or chapters they may need for class lectures, (which requires printer, ink and paper aka. more money).   And of course, many students still prefer being able to physically highlight books and share with other students as needed.  Another option for these students is to use textbook exchange websites.  These sites allow students to locate the textbooks they need, compare pricing, buy and then even sell their textbooks to people all across the country and even Canada to recoup some of the money spent on the book.

To learn more about ebooks and buying/selling used textbooks, please visit The Student Book Exchange at www.stubex.com.