HOUSTON -- Ever heard of a paperless book?  It might sound strange, but some college students are already using them.

What’s more, the next-generation books are saving students money and making their educations more efficient.

Rice University is at the forefront of the paperless book trend.

The online program, called Connections, allows students to access copies of books online.

That means they’re getting to use information from books that used to cost them hundreds of dollars for free.

The program even allows users to search for books by subject.   

Dozens of classes at Rice are already using Connections, and that number is only expected to grow.