The high price of textbooks is often a problem for students, causing them to seek cheaper alternatives like buying books online or checking them out from a library. NSU offers students another option.
Last fall, the NSU Bookstore began letting students rent textbooks, saving them up to 50 percent of what they would have spent on new books. Nick Fagnoni, NSU Bookstore manager, said the rental program was started to give students more choices, and the program has been well-received by students.
“It’s helping students, especially if it’s a book that they won’t need for more than a semester,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of students who have come in and are very much appreciative of the fact that they can rent textbooks now.”
Fagnoni said one appealing aspect about the rental program is the immediacy of it. Instead of waiting for online orders to ship, students can get the same savings by going to the Bookstore.
Students who want to sell back books at the end of the semester may only receive 50 percent of the original price or less. With rentals, they can mail textbooks back to the store by printing out a free, one-time use return shipping label online.
However, not all books are available for rent. Ebony Delgado, sophomore biology major, had to buy a $160 algebra book at the Bookstore because it was not available for rent. Usually, she said, she uses Chegg.com to purchase her textbooks and only goes to the NSU Bookstore to buy textbooks exclusive to NSU. Delgado said she will still use Chegg.com if it is cheaper than renting at the Bookstore.
Some students choose buying over renting because of convenience. Melissa Fernandez, doctoral student of computer technology education, bought her instructional design textbook even though it was available for rent.
“I will probably forget to return it, so I’ll just buy it,” she said.
Others don’t consider renting as an option because of the nature of their classes and academic programs. Amrita Singh, doctoral psychology student, said she has to buy her books, but she finds cheaper ways of buying books like ordering from Amazon.com.
“Because I’m in graduate school, most of them I have to keep. I save about $150 to $200 dollars each semester,” she said.
Rented books are due 10 days after the last day of finals, and students receive emails reminding them to return them.
