Consumer Reports – How to Save Money on College Textbooks

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Depending on your needs, you may not need to spend any money at all

Like just about every other cost associated with higher education, the cost of college textbooks has been rising as well. According to a February report from the Student Public Interest Research Group, the cost of textbooks has risen about 78 percent over the past decade.

Yet while the price of textbooks is up, students are actually spending less. Last year, according to the National Association of College Stores, students spent an average of $602 on course materials, including textbooks—about $100 less than students spent a decade ago.

The reason? Many students check out price comparison sites such as Booksprice and Textsurf to get the best deals possible. Another reason is that a growing number of schools no longer require as many textbooks as they once did. Instead, the faculty are switching over to free, open-source course materials.

But students are also getting smarter about how they shop, finding lower cost ways of getting the books they need. “There are alternatives out there now for students that can save hundreds of dollars,” says Ethan Senack, higher education advocate with the United States Public Interest Research Group.

Here’s how you can save money while getting your textbooks:

Replace textbooks with open educational resources

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The effort to replace textbooks with open educational resources (OER) is gaining momentum as colleges move past pilots to expand the use of free or inexpensive course materials across states and systems.

In states such as New Hampshire and New York, university systems are building new initiatives that build on years of lessons learned about using OER in the classroom. At the same time, organizations such as Achieving the Dream are investing millions of dollars to help community colleges in 13 different states build OER-based degree programs.

Those initiatives join others in progress in states such as Arizona, for example, where Maricopa Community College has used OER to save students more than $5 million in textbooks costs, and Virginia, which is expanding Tidewater Community College’s idea of a zero-textbook-cost degree program to 15 other institutions.

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Get College Textbooks: Rent Them Online

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Handing over hundreds of dollars at the bookstore counter every semester will be an unpleasant experience to say the least. It may be better to start renting those books instead of buying them. Many websites are now offering textbook rentals that allow students to choose from the newest versions of books for a reduced amount of money. This hassle-free and easy option of renting textbooks online will definitely benefit students currently enrolled and those who plan to enter college.

The internet has given birth to one of the most convenient ways for students to obtain textbooks. Renting online is a way for students to save time, effort and money. Being a college student is hard enough, especially when studying for four years or more. Everyday a student needs to be prepared for class and they must be additionally prepared for the responsibility of paying college tuition and fees. Textbooks take precedent over all other materials needed for the learning process. Without textbooks, the chances of passing your classes are nearly zero. Textbooks will also be one of the largest expenses for a college student, with an average yearly cost of about $1200. Buying textbooks is the appropriate action to take on some occasions, but the price tags on new books might make it difficult for some students to obtain them.

Comparison between Renting and Buying

Before deciding whether to rent or to buy, you must first consider various factors such as:

· The Initial Cost – From a financial standpoint, renting textbooks from online stores is cheaper compared to buying a new book. You can save up to 90% on the cost of a brand new book by renting.

Example:

*If you need a textbook for the upcoming semester, it will cost at least $100 to purchase it. If you have a full schedule, then that will easily cost you $400-$500 to get all the books you need. But if you chose the online option to rent those books, you may find yourself spending $100-$200 for the exact same books.

· Future Needs Evaluation – One natural and common problem in renting books online is that you might need the book for future references. In this case, you might need to re-rent the book again. Even though some knowledge is retained in your memory for a long period of time, there is still other information that needs to be reviewed consistently in order to stay fresh. The need for a book is understood to vary from person to person, class to class and profession to profession. For students with great memories or no future need for the information, obviously renting those books is the better choice. But for students who know they may need the information at a later in their career, buying the book would be the better decision.

· Convenience – The convenience behind renting is that you don’t have to look over the shelves of the bookstore for the book you need but all you need to do is to spend few clicks online. Renting will as well allow you to choose the best and fresh book online by choosing the company you prefer. You can have various options and select what you want. After that, locate the book by entering the author or the title then select the duration of time you need it. Place the order and wait for the book to arrive. It is just easy as ordering for a product.

Benefits of Renting a Textbook

1. No need to stand in long lines at a bookstore

2. No books to sell at the end of the semester

3. 90% cheaper compared to buying

Consider These Tips

· When renting textbooks online for the coming semester, be sure to rent them ahead of the first week of class. Though the websites have different shipping options, it is best to play it safe and give the books time to make it to you. Everything does not always go as planned.

· When your textbooks first arrive, open the package carefully. Do not rip it open to the point that it cannot be reused. Those books have to be returned and it will make it easier on you to just hold on to original box rather than having to find another at the end of the semester.

These are just few reasons why students should consider renting their textbooks online. The book rental services nowadays are becoming more popular with students at colleges and universities across the US. With textbook prices on the rise, renting is an option that should be explored by all current and future college students.

Learn more about saving money on textbooks online @ http://www.textbookfanatics.com

Creating ‘Netflix’ for textbooks

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A college student’s biggest expense can often be textbooks. They can take hundreds of dollars a semester out of a student’s pocket, but a current college student in metro Atlanta says he has the solution.  He also has a lot of big backers.

In Kennesaw, an early 20th Century house is an incubator for start-up, and a college student on spring break says he’s sitting on gold.

“Do you feel you have a billion-dollar idea?” 11Alive’s Matt Pearl asked him.

Kennesaw State junior Paul Ngalle’s start-up is called TreeCabin.

“It’s a platform that would allow students to stream their textbooks,” he explained. It’s a sort of Netflix for textbooks.

“It popped into my head, ‘Netflix!’ I had a Netflix subscription at the time, and I said, ‘Why don’t I have something like this for my books?'” Ngalle said.

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Open source textbooks, are they making the grade

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Finally, a bit of good news on the college costs front: A study out of Brigham Young University finds that free open source textbooks do the job pretty darn well.

The study of nearly 17,000 students at 9 colleges found that open source textbooks (or open educational resources — OERs in academic lingo) found that students learn the same amount or more from the free books across many subjects. (Here’s a sampling of the sorts of texts available, via a University of Minnesota site.)

What’s more, 85% of students and instructors said open textbooks were actually better than the commercial ones. The research focused its results based on measurements such as course completion, final grade, final grade of C- or higher, enrollment intensity, and enrollment intensity in the following semester.
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Free Textbook sources

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