Expensive textbooks place a substantial burden on students’ budgets and negatively affect student success. When they can’t afford a textbook, students often struggle through without purchasing it, or drop the class entirely. The University of Florida created the Affordable UF Initiative, a wide-ranging effort that brings together partners across campus to tackle the affordability challenge from multiple perspectives.
Affordable UF options include:
Find it at the Libraries: The George A. Smathers Libraries support students’ access to course materials by purchasing ebooks and streaming video, subscribing to online journals, and making many print textbooks available for short-term checkout. Librarians and staff members offer expertise in every subject area, and the Libraries are often a first stop for students seeking affordable options for textbooks and other resources.
Free and open: Instructors can offer students free course materials by using or creating open educational resources (OERs) instead of traditional textbooks. For instance, a free homework tool developed for calculus courses has saved UF students over $55,000.
UF All Access: The UF All Access program is a partnership between UF Business services, the UF Bookstore, and textbook publishers that allows students to access electronic versions of their textbooks, often at heavily discounted prices.
Recent Reports
UF reports annually to the Florida State University System Board of Governors on our work to improve affordability:
making education more affordable
In the 2019-2020 academic year, the estimated cost of books and supplies for a UF undergraduate was $850.
Students taking courses in the summer paid an estimated total of $1190.
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