Renting college textbooks is one option for students.

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Last April, SayCampusLife ran an article titled, “Kiss Your College Bookstore Good-Bye” where we shared some options students have besides buying their books at the college bookstore. After all, if you’re plunking down hundreds to even over one thousand dollars per academic year on books you’ll never use again, can you see the value of bypassing your school’s store? We think that you can!

In our earlier report we listed four ways that students can save money on their textbooks: buy used, do without, shop online, or even renting your textbooks.

With the latter option, we learned that there are a handful of companies who will rent a book to you, with Chegg being the largest one of all. In Chegg’s case, they claim that students can save 60-80% on the cost of a textbook by renting their books for the semester.

“Getting my textbooks through Chegg is a no-brainer,” said Anthony Hill of Northern Illinois University. “I don’t have to wait in long lines and they arrive right at my front door. Better yet, I save money each year on college textbooks and even help the environment. As the school year is right around the corner I’ll be online with Chegg in the coming weeks to prep for the new school year.”

“Last year I saved $200 using the Chegg service,” said Jessica Morales of Nova Southeastern University. “That is a lot of money for a college student and money I reinvested in my college education. Chegg has made it so easy to save money and rent and return books.”

In Chegg’s case, the environmental benefits include reusing textbooks multiple times and the company’s pledge to plant a tree for every textbook rental. To date, Chegg has funded over 100 acres of trees which is 100 football fields or 25 city blocks of worth.

Besides using a service like Chegg, students can save money by purchasing textbooks via Amazon or through online ad sites such as Craigslist. Some online rental textbook companies will allow you to highlight text, but they will not take your books back if you write in them. You’ll want to make sure that you are familiar with the terms of the rental agreement before choosing any service.

Sources:

Kiss Your College Bookstore Good-Bye

One Month Until ‘Textbook Tuesday’ - Biggest Day for Online Textbook Rentals, August 19th, 2008

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Adv. — Need money for college? Explore your financing options with SayStudent.com today!

Tags: Chegg, college bookstore, textbook rentals

According to Student PIRGs, the nonprofit public advocacy group behind the Make Textbooks Affordable website, college textbook costs have increased by four times the amount of inflation since 1994. Today, students are paying more than $900 annually for books which equals about 20% of the tuition cost at the average university. Worse, this number equals roughly half of the tuition cost for community college students who are often the least able to afford college.

What options do you, as a student, have when it comes to purchasing books? Although Student PIRGs is doing their part to shine the light on the cost, what practical steps can you take right now to save money on textbooks?

Well, that answer could depend on the willingness of your professors to cooperate, something that can vary from class to class. So let’s explore some ways you can shave ten, twenty, even fifty percent or more off of your annual textbook bill.

Four Steps To Saving Money On Textbooks

Buy Used – Most textbooks are updated annually, rendering the information in the books dated once the academic year has ended. These updates serve two purposes: to keep the textbook information current and to force students to buy the new book. Some professors insist that students use the newest edition, while others are more accommodating. If you can “get away” with an older edition, you could save 20 to 50 percent on costs. Another option is to avoid the bookstore and buy from a student who will sell the book to you directly and for less.

Do Without — If your “18th Century Foundations of Zoology” class lists four books for you to purchase, could it be that at least one textbook is optional? If so, consider not buying the book or perhaps sharing a copy with another student for the semester.

Shop Online - eBay, Craigslist, Amazon, and other online sites feature new and/or used textbooks for sale. Search around — even if someone must ship the book to you, it could still be cheaper than buying the used copy at the college bookstore.

Rent Your Book — One company has started a business where students can rent their textbook for the semester. Chegg rents over two million titles which you can find online and have shipped to your address. When the semester is over, you return the book to Chegg with their pre-paid label. You pay a rental fee and you do the environmentally responsible thing as no additional trees are cut down to make your books.

Up, Up, and Away!

Prices for textbooks will continue to rise, at least for the near term, or until students say, enough. You can’t wait for change to occur, but with the options shared above, real savings can be had the next time you shop for college textbooks.

Resources

Chegg

College Planning Tools

Financial Aid Charts

Student PIRGs

Tags: Chegg, college costs, college expenses, college textbooks, PIRG, student books, tuition