Digital-only textbooks hit record high in U.S. higher ed

A new Bay View Analytics survey shows U.S. faculty are pushing further toward digital course materials, with one-third now requiring digital-only textbooks and OER use at a record high. The findings point to growing faculty acceptance of open resources and a steady shift away from print in higher education.

Why it matters: - Digital course materials are now a mainstream part of U.S. higher education, which affects what students buy and how instructors build courses. - Open educational resources are gaining ground as required materials, which can lower costs for students and widen access to assigned content. - Faculty ratings suggest OER may be competing well with commercial publishers on quality, not just price.

What happened: - Bay View Analytics surveyed 3,635 faculty for its latest annual report on how U.S. instructors select and use course materials. - One-third of faculty, or 33%, now require a digital-only textbook in a course, up from 29% last year and the highest level recorded in the survey. - Fewer than one in ten faculty, or 9%, require a print-only textbook. - Thirty-four percent of faculty use OER as a required material in at least one course, also a survey high. - Nearly half of faculty, 47%, use OER in some way.

The details: - OER received an average rating of 84%, compared with 81% for materials from other commercial publishers and 78% for the “Big Three”: Cengage, McGraw Hill and Pearson. - Seventy-one percent of faculty taught fully face-to-face in 2025-26. - Forty-seven percent taught at least one course fully online. - Most faculty, 65%, teach in a single modality. - Just over 90% of students have their required textbooks available in digital format. - Required textbooks offered in both print and digital fell to 58%, down from 61% last year. - Seventy-three percent of faculty require a textbook. - Three-quarters of faculty, 75%, agree digital materials provide greater flexibility for students. - Forty-seven percent agree students learn better from print, up from 42% last year. - Faculty gave their curricula an average rating of 81%. - Accuracy earned the highest rating at 88%. - Cost to students rated 72%, and included materials rated 73%. - OER received the most A grades, at 50%. - The Big Three received the fewest A grades, at 33%. - Sixty-two percent of faculty are aware of OER at some level, up from 59% last year and within two points of the survey high reached in 2022-23. - The report is titled “Inching Towards Digital: Educational Resources in Higher Education, 2026” and is released under a Creative Commons license. - The report is available for download at the full report. - The broader report series is available on the Bay View Analytics OER page at the Bay View Analytics webpage. - The survey series is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Online Learning Consortium.

Between the lines: - Faculty adoption of OER is rising faster than awareness, which suggests the gap between knowing about OER and actually using it is narrowing. - The data also point to a classroom market where digital access is expanding, but print still retains a meaningful role for many instructors. - Bay View Analytics says OER users are more satisfied with their course materials than users of traditional publishers.

What's next: - An Online Learning Consortium webinar is scheduled for October 27, 2026. - The webinar, “Trends in Digital Learning and OER: Faculty thoughts on OER and Digital Materials in Higher Education,” will review the report’s findings and include a panel discussion. - Registration is free at webinar registration. - Bay View Analytics plans to keep using the long-running survey series to track changes in online education and course-material adoption.

The bottom line: - U.S. higher education is moving deeper into digital course materials, and OER is now the strongest-performing option in faculty ratings and required-use growth.