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Books & Supplies

One of the most expensive parts of going to college can be paying for books. Despite the convenience of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Bookstore matching program and financial aid support, financing your books, materials, and supplies, can still be challenging.  Check out some of the options below for help in paying for your books, materials, and supplies.

The Books for 'Cats program offers eligible undergraduate students (across ALL four years) the ability to borrow course materials (including textbooks, clickers, access codes, and lab equipment) in over 100 selected introductory courses. Eligible students are identified by the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid, and students receive quarterly email invitations with instructions for participating.

View the full list of 2023 - 2024 Books for 'Cats courses

If you have questions about the Books for 'Cats program, contact Michael Fitzpatrick, Senior Director of FGLI Initiatives, Provost Office (mfitzpatrick@northwestern.edu). If you have eligibility questions, contact Brian Drabik, Director of Financial Aid Operations at b-drabik@northwestern.edu. 

 Visit our FAQ page for answers to frequently asked questions about the program. 

For literature classes,  has many classic texts available for free that can be read online or downloaded for the Amazon Kindle (device or Android/iOS app). Many of the items in its collection are the texts of public domain books available at no cost. Check to make sure your professor allows electronic copies in class.

Be sure to check out Â鶹´«Ã½'s Financial Wellness website for tons of tips on affording books.

Also, sometimes students don’t realize they have a refund available in their Caesar account. Refunds can help with buying books and required materials. Be sure to check Caesar today to see if you have a refund. Visit this for full details on how to access your refund. Please note, in order to access your refund, you must do two things: 1) ; and 2) request your refund. Both of these actions can be found in the “Student Financial Services” section of Caesar, under the “More Student Financials” link.

Lastly, Financial Aid does offer a $500 loan that must be paid back by the end of the quarter. This could be a good option to utilize if you have a job and just need money now, before your paycheck hits. Email Brian Drabik in Financial Aid at b-drabik@northwestern.edu and more

 

Interlibrary Loan and online PDFs are great options for students. Here is a guide on how to use  

 

You can use the Free or For Sale Group on Facebook, buy Used Books, or use Price Match to find books at a lower cost. Also, our Norris Bookstore matches any price that you find online or in the store. Full details can be found here here.
SPSS, SAS, MATLAB, the Adobe Creative Suite: allows you to use software such as SPSS, SAS, MATLAB, the Adobe Creative Suite, and lots more. View a list of available software below. Access is provided through NetID and password. Full details at this

Associated Student Government funds a $12 printing credit that is applied to all undergraduate student print accounts each year. The funds appear in , which students can access using their netIDs. Printers that use NUPrint on the Evanston campus are located in the Libraries, Residence Halls, and Norris Center. 

In addition, various schools and departments offer free printing to students within those programs. Multicultural Student Affairs offers free printing privileges with a limit of 500 pages per student per quarter. Visit the MSA website to learn more. 

The University Library provides loaner laptops and other technology on a short-term basis.  

If all of the laptops are checked out, there are computer labs available in the MCC and Black House for student use and there is also free printing. You can find the building hours here: /msa/resources/computer-labs-printing.html