Students should study textbook options

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.

The textbook required for the Biology 101 course at UNC is available at the Chegg website for buying only.

The book including shipping is about $80. But at student stores, the net cost is about $42 because students can buy it for $128.50 and return it for half the price.

Hanner said Student Stores does not promote textbook rental companies because they are independent companies and the school can’t be accountable for mistakes.

“I’m wary of some rental companies. They’re a business,” Hanner said. “People really need to do their homework.”

Rebecca Lee, a freshman biology major at UNC, rented two of her textbooks from Chegg and said she did not like not being able to write in the books.

“Also, I didn’t see the point in renting a book when I could return it to the student store,” Lee said.

Unlike students at UNC-CH, those at UNC-Wilmington can rent textbooks via their student store.

The store partnered with Barnes and Noble to start its textbook rental program last year.

Matthew Victory, student body president at UNC-W, said the program is expanding this year and offers twice as many books.

He said a lot of students at the university are using the option.

“We’re in the early stages,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out what works best for our university, students, and professors.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.