Students who are pushing for more rental options could be misled by companies claiming to provide the best choice.
Chegg, a textbook rental company that caters to multiple universities, recently partnered with Borders to widen its rental market and target many college students.
Tina Couch, spokeswoman for Chegg, called the company “the Netflix of textbook rentals.”
While Borders now offers Chegg’s textbook rental option online, many UNC-system schools aren’t doing the same even though student leaders within the system have been advocating for textbook rental options for students since last year.
In January, the UNC-system Board of Governors encouraged schools to expand textbook rental and buyback programs after a meeting with student body presidents.
Student Stores at UNC-CH offers a buyback but not a rental program.
Kelly Hanner, textbook manager at UNC Student Stores, said renting textbooks might not be the best option for students.
The buyback program at UNC reimburses students for half of what they paid for many introductory level course books, she said.
Hanner said rental prices and purchasing prices at the campus book store usually don’t vary. But the net cost is sometimes lower at Student Stores.