A lot of college students find it difficult to own textbooks, mostly due to the cost and availability, however, there are several websites where these textbooks can be downloaded today for free.
Although many college students are not aware of it, you don’t always have to choose the most expensive option; in fact, there are numerous ways, especially online (via websites), to obtain alternate textbooks, and they are also entirely free.
Furthermore, Open educational resources, or OERs, are made available to college students through a variety of non-profit organizations to provide free textbooks.
Hence, in this copy, you will learn how to get free college textbooks as a student. You will also find a detailed list of some websites where college students can get free textbooks.
How to Get Free College Textbooks PDF
The average college student spends $1,200 a year on books and other supplies, according to the College Board. And that’s a cost you most certainly don’t need.
Fortunately, there are many ways to receive completely free college textbooks in addition to affordable ones.
Below are several methods for obtaining free or nearly free college textbooks.
- OpenStax
- AACC Bookstore eTextbooks
- Textbook Revolution
- Project Gutenberg
- Many books.net
- Free-eBooks.net
- DigiLibraries.com
- Bookboon
#1. OpenStax
A great place to find free college textbooks is OpenStax. Based at Rice University, it is a nonprofit educational endeavor.
You can read high-quality, publicly licensed college textbooks for free online or for a small fee by printing them from OpenStax.
According to OpenStax, their textbooks are utilized in more than 100 countries and 48% of American colleges and institutions.
#2. AACC Bookstore eTextbooks
Free digital textbooks and study versions of works that are in the public domain are available at the AACC Bookstore. It’s a reliable source for free textbooks in PDF online.
#3. Textbook Revolution
On the website Textbook Revolution, you can get free PDF textbooks. Fortunately, you may look for textbooks by subject or by license. Numerous subjects, including Biology, Computer Science &Technology, Economics, Health Sciences &Medical, Mathematics, Physics, and World History, have textbooks accessible.
You can look for free textbooks on the internet.
Additionally, you can utilize it to look for affordable college textbooks.
#4. Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg provides the solution to the question, “Where can I find textbooks in PDF format for free?”
There are almost 57,000 free eBooks available, including textbooks.
You can download books from Project Gutenberg in a variety of file types, including ePUB, PDF, and.doc.
This implies that you can view the textbooks from the site using any device you own, whether a Kindle, Nook, phone, or desktop computer.
Additionally, you can download or read textbooks online.
It’s a fantastic platform overall with a huge library of titles.
#5. Many books.net
You can get free college textbooks from the website ManyBooks.net. You can find books there in a variety of file types, including ePUB, PDF, and.doc.
Therefore, You may read free textbooks from ManyBooks.net without difficulty, regardless of the device you’re using to read on.
ManyBooks.net is definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for textbook PDF files.
#6. Free-eBooks.net
You can download free books at Free-eBooks.net. There is an entire academic section. So be sure to check out Free-eBooks.net if you want PDF versions of your textbooks. If you’re taking a course in English Literature, there is also classic fiction on there, so this is very helpful.
#7. DigiLibraries.com
The website DigiLibraries.com also provides free books. There are several textbooks available for free.
#8. Bookboon
The website Bookboon offers free textbook downloads. Professors from leading universities around the globe are responsible for all of the textbooks displayed on the website. Books can be found in a variety of fields, including IT, statistics, engineering, natural science, and economics.
You may also check out some college that offers these courses in 15 Best schools in the World
15 Best Websites for Free College Textbooks for Students
Here are the best websites that offer Free Textbooks for College Students.
- Bookboon
- OpenStax
- Open Textbook Library
- Saylrangeor Academy
- IntechOpen
- Online Mathematics Textbooks
- Project Gutenberg
- Wikibooks
- The Assayer
- Internet Archive Open Library
- Freeditorial
- ManyBooks.net
- ScholarWorks
- OpenEd
#1. Bookboon
For college students, Bookboon offers a huge range of free textbooks in a variety of areas. It is a fantastic resource in particular for college students interested in business and STEM disciplines. The fact that this organization also provides a wide selection of textbooks on professional development, such as those on how to manage stress at work, internship advice, writing skills, and interview techniques, really sets it apart from its competitors. They also offer company success-oriented entrepreneurship materials.
Users only need to complete a brief form in order to download any textbook, making it simple to use. This is just one of the many reasons why Bookboon has been successful since its launch in 2005.
#2. OpenStax
If you’ve heard of OpenStax before, it’s likely because it serves as the platform for Bill Gates’ textbook donations and is the go-to resource for college students who are just beginning their academic careers. The organization was established by Rice University in 2011 and is funded by collaborations with a variety of charitable organizations, including the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation. Since OpenStax’s textbooks are peer-reviewed by real educators, they are relevant and adhere to the majority of general course curricula.
The textbook collection is available in a variety of formats and covers topics including physics, biology, sociology, pre-calculus, history, and more (including PDF and EPUB).
#3. Open Textbook Library
The Open Textbook Library is well aware of the financial burden that purchasing textbooks can entail, even going so far as to say that it may be a factor in why some students decide to drop out of school or fail their courses. Fortunately, its extensive and continually expanding library of peer-reviewed, free textbooks may be able to assist.
The Open Textbook Library, which is based in Minnesota, US, covers all major disciplines and even has a section of self-help and study success materials created especially for students. You can choose the textbook that is best for you by using the helpful rating systems that have been supplied for each of the books by other users.
#4. Saylrangeor Academy
Saylor Academy, which started its open education adventure formally in 2008, has a fantastic library of cost-free textbooks that are simple to find. There are other sections for less conventional professions like online marketing, social media, and public speaking, and it covers a wide of subjects so you are sure to find something to help you with your studies.
Saylor Academy encourages users to spread the word about its library of textbooks and share them with others. If you’d like to provide feedback on the textbooks available, you can complete a brief survey and make suggestions. In contrast, the majority of textbooks are accessible in Microsoft Word, EPUB, and PDF formats.
#5. IntechOpen
IntechOpen, which was founded in 2004 and is not to be confused with the failed Initech business of Office Space fame, is one of the biggest producers of free textbooks in the world. With a library of over 2,000 published textbooks, as the name implies, there are a ton of textbook alternatives and articles available for computer science, robotics, and other STEM courses. Even a variety of peer-reviewed journals are available for selection.
According to the website, IntechOpen has given users from all around the world more than 60 million downloads, demonstrating that it is one of the most reputable and widely utilized providers on the market.
#6. Lyryx
Lyryx provides open textbooks and other accessible educational resources in accordance with UNSECO’s framework for global educational progress and social responsibility. They mostly concentrate on topics like business, economics, arithmetic, and statistics.
Along with their open textbooks, Lyryx has also developed educational software that provides summative exams and formative online homework so that you can hone your abilities and understanding in each topic.
#7. Online Mathematics Textbooks
As the site’s name implies, students majoring in history may find little use for it, but those studying mathematics—or, in fact, any STEM discipline, such as engineering, chemistry, or computer science—might find Online Mathematics Textbooks to be of great use.
It might not seem like much with a very simple HTML design, but the results speak for themselves. The website lists 77 publications, ranging from basic pre-calculus texts to abstract and difficult works. Online mathematics textbooks should be able to help you if your course incorporates numbers or if you want to study certain ideas on your own time.
#8. Project Gutenberg
Fans of the Police Academy may be disappointed to learn that Project Gutenberg isn’t, as the name may imply, a shrine to Hollywood actor Steve Gutenberg, but rather a vast and in-depth collection of free, easily accessible instructional materials.
Additionally, the website does not merely list textbooks. It is the ideal resource for students studying the humanities and the arts because it has a large number of original publications that, in some cases, date back thousands of years. Along with audiobooks, data compilations, and even sheet music, texts are also offered in a variety of languages. Although the design may not be the most user-friendly, Project Gutenberg is one of the best sources for textbooks available.
#9. Wikibooks
Wikibooks, like its sister website Wikipedia, is a very helpful program that collects knowledge and experience from all around the world and organizes it into a single, digestible resource. However, this open source strategy has the same academic weakness as Wikipedia because anyone may modify the material, negating its scholarly authority.
However, Wikibooks is a terrific place to start for understanding specific ideas or subjects, especially in the social sciences and STEM sectors, and the language learning tools are quite helpful. Overall, this is a fantastic resource for deepening your awareness of specific academic disciplines, though if you’re planning to cite anything, you may want to visit your school library first.
#10. The Assayer
The Assayer, which was founded in 2000, contains a sizable library of free books that were made available by their writers. This database may not contain the most recent topic matter, but you will have access to a wide range of pertinent books.
Additionally, you have the choice to sign up as a member of this website, which will enable you to publish your own evaluations of the content that is already there and participate in conversations with other users of the platform.
#11. Internet Archive Open Library
You can borrow millions of carefully chosen digitalized books and writings from Open Library as part of The Internet Archive website for your academic pursuits. Basically, this allows one customer at a time to check out a book from anywhere in the world. You can check out 10 books at once, and they will be available for 14 days if they are completely borrowable or for an hour of browsing. Additionally, you have three options for accessing your book: BookReader, PDF, and ePub. There might, however, be an audio version as well.
You can also make your own lists of books based on topics, subjects, authors, genres, etc., as well as your own reading diary for books you are now borrowing, have already read, or are interested in reading.
#12. Freeditorial
In an effort to promote literature and make texts available to all readers, Freeditorial, an internet publishing business, offers free book downloads. Everything from classical literature to history and biography to scholarly essays can be found here.
Additionally, Freeditorial enables authors to submit and self-publish their works, which other community members can view for free.
#13. ManyBooks.net
ManyBooks.net features a sizable library of free textbooks available for PDF and eBook download in a variety of languages. You may easily download texts by searching the available content by author, genre, or keywords. It’s also important to note that the ManyBooks Discuss portion of the website allows you to communicate with both writers and other readers.
#14. ScholarWorks
The Grand Valley State University Libraries run ScholarWorks, which provides access to thousands of scholarly publications, including books, articles, and journals that have been hand-picked and deposited by the school departments and centers. More than 600 disciplines are available for you to browse, access, and download, including behavioral sciences, history, legal studies, psychology, criminology, and administration. This is unquestionably a helpful tool for all college students, but it also helps academics and researchers who want to make their work more widely available.
#15. OpenEd
By providing a selection of openly licensed textbooks, the OpenEd project, run by BC Campus, strives to increase student access to higher education. Since then, OpenEd has compiled resources for the top 40 subjects in British Columbia with the largest enrollment, including accounting, biology, business, sociology, the visual arts, and media. Additionally, the platform has amassed resources for trades, technology, and skill development. You can use the site’s search bar to look through the open textbook collection or choose a topic that interests you.
Free Online Books for University Students
These are the top websites where you may receive free college textbooks online.
- Library Genesis
- Google Search Engine
- B-OK
- Mobilism
- Textbook Revolution
#1. Library Genesis
In total, Library Genesis has 2 million files and more than 1.5 million nonfiction books. Along with free non-fiction books, it offers numerous free online textbooks. There are numerous scholarly articles available as well. For beginners, the downloading process could be fairly difficult. In other words, it can take you a while to locate the appropriate source from which to download your book.
#2. Google Search Engine
The Google Search Engine should be your backup plan if the Library Genesis does not have the textbook you are seeking for. You need to enter “the name of the textbook” and “pdf.” This will provide you with a list of online PDF files that are accessible. Make sure each one is the one you are searching for by checking with each one.
#3. B-OK
Another website similar to Genesis Library is B-OK. More than 3,400,000 books and 52,000,000 articles are available there for free! There are thousands of free online textbooks that you can download out of over three million volumes.
#4. Mobilism
Let’s assume that none of these websites have the free textbook or academic article you’re looking for. How can you help? You can ask others to look for it on your behalf. Information on textbooks and scholarly articles is posted on the popular forum Mobilism. Specific textbook links can be requested, and in my experience, the majority of requests are fulfilled.
#5. Textbook Revolution
A group of students created this website to offer free access to online textbooks. You can obtain a sizable selection of textbooks from them in a variety of areas. You may use their search engine to look up textbooks, and based on experience, they have dozens of textbooks for each discipline.
Besides, if you’re still looking to enroll in a course, you may consider Best Ways To Study For The SAT: See 15 Effective Study Tips
Free Textbooks Online PDF
Are you looking for free PDF textbook download instructions? Electronic media analysis textbooks are related to the digital, interactive feature of innovative textbook information displayed in a clinical and intuitive style, audio, pictures, and text. Since the introduction of the Internet, a number of routine chores have been moved online. The same person chooses novels. Find out more about these websites where you may download free textbooks.
- OpenStax
- Library Genesis
- ScholarWorks
- Open Textbook Library
- Ebook Library
- PDF Search Engine
- Bookboon.com
#1. OpenStax
It is a Rice University-based public service educational initiative. You may get textbooks on business, economics, social sciences, physics, biology, and other subjects in OpenStax.
All of the OpenStax textbooks adhere to the standard range and series instances, making it simple to integrate them into current training programs. Additionally to college textbooks, you can also locate a few senior high school textbooks below. However, the majority of them are based on academic literature. If you’re a student at a university, this website is a great pick.
Functions
- Downloading and installing the books is free.
- Complete textbooks are available for download for free.
- Complete library of academic texts
#2. Library Genesis
A website called Library Genesis allows users to share files and access scholarly journal articles, important general interest publications, images, comic books, textbooks, and periodicals. This website is home to millions of postings and a library of PDF books.
Enter the Library Genesis website. Your search word must be typed directly into the search box. You can locate, download, and set up the required textbook. In order to search the text, you can also enter an author, book title, or topic.
Attributes
- Full range of publications
- Easy interface
- For continuing to read on your Kindle, iPad, Android, or other e-reader devices, in total
#3. ScholarWorks
The GVSU Libraries manage an open-access repository, which displays and preserves the works of GVSU scholars. All databases’ open textbooks can be searched by title, author, citation information, keyword phrases, etc. These texts are all intended for college students.
Functions
- Complete selection of academic books
- There are several textbook search strategies.
#4. Open Textbook Library
Many textbooks that have been financed, released, and permitted to be freely used, altered, and distributed are carried by the Open Textbook Library. These publications are available for free download and installation or are reasonably priced to publish.
You can borrow textbooks from the Open Textbook Library based on their subject. It includes textbooks on twelve different subjects, such as service, education, and design, among others. The majority of the textbooks on this website are aimed at college students.
Attributes
- All open textbooks are available for free download, installation, and customization in the library without additional authorization or documentation.
- Allows you to develop your own open textbook.
#5. Ebook Library
On the website Ebooklibrary, you may find the appropriate textbooks. After that, click the Leading Textbooks section. You can view a variety of themes, including History, Finance and Organization, Chemistry, etc. Books for children and teenagers are also available here, in addition to textbooks for colleges. There are only notable novels about cutting-edge scientific research and children’s literature. There aren’t many primary and secondary school textbooks on this website.
Attributes
- Simple and unambiguous user interface
- College textbooks in full series
#6. PDF Search Engine
You can find free PDF files and textbooks with PDF Search Engine and download them to your PC. It is just as simple to use a PDF search engine as it is to use Google, Bing, or Yahoo.
Simply enter your inquiries in the text box and press the search button. A list of search results relevant to your query will be available to you. This website provides a ton of resources, including textbooks for every age group. The necessary guides are listed below.
Features
- Textbook sources aplenty
- It provides textbooks in a variety of formats.
#7. Bookboon.com
BookBoon.com is the included free PDF website where you can download both books and eBooks. Over 50 million PDFs are available for download and installation on the website. At the same time, it is currently the most thorough online book publishing company in the world, focusing on short and practical books, IT, services, design literature, etc.
This website can be quite helpful to you because it categorizes books according to different topics. You can locate several related books in addition to the ones you want to download.
Features
- Developed by prominent professionals in the field.
- Bite-sized design (1-2hr analysis time).
- eReader that is simple to use and simple to access.
- Analyze the subject where you left off.
- Every week, new eBooks are added.
Free College Textbooks Download Sites
Here are some of the safe and free textbook download sites for college students.
- Library Genesis
- OpenStax
- Project Gutenberg
- Open Textbook Library
- ScholarWorks
- eBookLobby
- PDF Grab
- Bookboon
- FreeTechBooks
- Digital Book Index
- PDF Drive
Conclusion
Online learning platforms may actually flourish alongside the reader’s intellect with the correct advice and understanding of where to hunt for free PDF books.
Although most users are not aware of them, these e-learning sites offer a vast diversity of reading and learning resources. Therefore, they mainly just Google the names of PDF books and fall for clickbait.
These websites are reliable, feature the most user-friendly interfaces, and offer free textbooks that have been thoughtfully organized to improve the user’s search experience.
FAQs On Free free college textbooks for students
There is a large collection of free textbooks for college students, covering a wide range of courses.
College textbooks can be downloaded for free from a variety of sources, as this article previously mentioned.
Yes, there is an open textbook library. The Open Education Network (OEN), a membership organization with headquarters at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Open Education, hosts The Library, an online repository of works with open licenses.
References
- moneypantry.com – how to get free college textbooks PDF
- careeraddict.com – 15 best websites for free textbooks for college students
- uscollegeinternational.com – free online books for university students
- educationisaround.com – free textbooks online pdf
- nguniversities.com – safe textbook download sites
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