Northwestern freshmen and sophomores who are financially eligible will now have unlimited access to textbooks through the University’s new Books for ’Cats 2.0 program.
The original Books for ’Cats program was established in Fall Quarter 2017 primarily for science, technology, engineering and math courses and has undergone multiple transformations over the years. The program provides students with “high financial need,” as determined by the University, with the opportunity to borrow introductory course textbooks and other course materials for free.
This quarter, NU unveiled Books for ’Cats 2.0, which gives eligible freshmen and sophomores unlimited access to textbooks. Books for ’Cats 1.0, the continuation of the original program, gives juniors and seniors access to a limited selection of texts.
The Office of the Provost wrote in an emailed statement to The Daily that over 600 students used Books for ’Cats in the 2024-25 academic year, and the University expects more students to use the expanded program this year. Over 1,400 students are eligible for the program this year, according to the office.
The addition of the 2.0 program is meant to “accommodate the significant growth in the program,” according to the Office of the Provost.
Communication freshman Tai Duong used the 2.0 program for his Spanish class as well as his Voice and Performance class. Duong said that the program allows him not to “worry about finances as a part of my education.”
“My Spanish book would have been $180 if I didn’t have Books for Cats,” he said.
NU juniors and seniors are still limited to around 100 textbooks. About half the list consists of beginner-level language courses. The list does not include elective courses, including Duong’s Voice and Performance class, also known as Theatre 170.
Medill and Communication senior Yumi Tallud said she has used Books for ’Cats since her freshman year and is currently still on the 1.0 program. While she praised the program for providing support to First-Generation Low-Income students, Tallud noted that she still had to pay for textbooks for a few classes due to limited selection in the 1.0 program.
“A lot of the classes that aren’t the big general classes aren’t really covered by Books for ’Cats,” they said.
Tallud primarily used the program for their past Korean language classes. However, the program did not cover upper-level coursework such as their Integrated Marketing Communications 303 course, among others.
“I still have the 1.0 (program), which honestly kind of sucks because, just this quarter, I had to pay $60 for a textbook that I didn’t really need,” she said.
The University plans to expand Books for ’Cats “each year to eventually support all eligible undergraduate students” regardless of grade, according to the Office of the Provost. The 2.0 program started with freshmen and sophomores, so the University can determine how much money to allocate in future years and avoid a “one-size-fits-all support model” for providing course texts.
The program also helped Weinberg freshman Al Zoerb get textbooks for his physics and math courses, as well as acclimate to the new college environment.
“I pay my own tuition, so I know if I had to pay for textbooks, it would be coming out of my wallet,” Zoerb said. “It was really helpful to have that stress come off of me.”
Tallud said she is excited for future generations and the expansion of the Books for ’Cats program. She said she didn’t understand how expensive textbooks could get until she went to the bookstore and looked at the price.
“The fact that Northwestern has a program in place that takes away that barrier for a lot of students is just really awesome,” Tallud said.
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