+5 Super Genius Ways To Get College Textbooks For Free
Finding free college textbooks can be a daunting task. You run into the challenges of finding legit websites, searching to see if they have your book, and wondering if a virus will be downloaded on your laptop. All you want to do is get an education, enjoy yourself, and get good grades.
Unless you have a scholarship that covers book fees, paying for textbooks is a stressor I feel no student deserves. College textbooks are frequently updated but many professors push buying up-to-date editions only. However, most of the time they are not that different than the previous edition. It can quickly feel like an unnecessary money grab making you go more into debt.
I can so easily go on a rant about how schools encourage you to take out loans of tens of thousands of dollars but don’t have assistance for college textbooks. Anyway, I have compiled many different ways on how to get free college textbooks as a college student who wants to save more money.
This post is all about ways to get college textbooks for free.
Ask Students Who Have Taken The Course
My older sister went to the same university I went to, but we were different majors. However, my roommate’s older sister who also went to the same university as us, had a lot of material from previous classes – and we happened to be in the same major. Asking around to see if anyone has a textbook you can borrow is such a great way to get free college textbooks.
Don’t have any friends who have taken the class already? Ask in:
- Facebook Groups
- Clubs
- Organizations
Many times students just want to get textbooks off of their hands. So you can snag a discounted textbook through one of these places.
Find Free Textbook Websites
This can get a little tricky because there are a lot of fake websites out there. Being a pro at finding ways to save a couple of hundred dollars, I have compiled websites that have worked for me. I also have an entire blog post dedicated to websites to find free college textbooks, so feel free to browse through those at your convenience.
Example of a popular site:
- Library Genesis (you can type in the ISBN and download a PDF version for FREE)
Don’t sleep on PDFs, free textbooks online can also help you save a bunch of money as a college student.
Check the library
A lot of professors (not all by any means) leave a copy of the textbook in the library. Typically, only one person can check out the textbook at a time but let’s be honest… who is really taking advantage of this? Probably no one. If the textbook isn’t available, you can ask the professor to leave a copy.
If you can’t check the book out, you can create a routine to go every week to study in the library. This is super helpful if you have a hard time studying and focusing. If the only free physical copy of the book is in the library, that can help you make time to focus on that class let’s say, every Tuesday and Thursday from 3 pm – 5 pm.
Another important thing to keep in mind is not all classes even use a textbook. A lot of times going to the lectures and occasional office hours can be more than enough to stay on top of your work and succeed. So during syllabus week (aka the first week of school), see if you even really need to get a textbook.
Ask Your Professor
Speaking of asking your professor, you can also ask them if they know where to find cheap alternatives. Or, ask them if they have any free copies you can use. It doesn’t hurt to ask because I bet you, not many students will ask.
Look into Thrifting Textbook
A popular website to get very cheap textbooks is thriftbooksHYPERLINK. No, they are not free. But if you have no luck finding a book elsewhere, this could be the next best option.
Popular Thrift Websites:
- abebooks.com
- thriftbooks
See if you can buy the access code separately
This is more of a college hack. Many classes don’t let you see the syllabus until the first day. This is somewhat problematic because bookstores often sell book + access code bundles. Many students purchase this because they think they will need the book. However, many times, when you get to class on the first day of school your professor says you don’t really need it.
Don’t let finding a college textbook wear you out! These are super useful ways that I have used on where to get free textbooks or at least at a fraction of the original price. I hope you find useful methods to get college textbooks for free in this list! Let me know if there’s a way to find free college textbooks that I may have missed here! 🤓
