Anonymous wrote:UCLA switched to a quarterly book access fee which we love. For $129/quarter students have access to all books they'd need for a class. Students can opt out if they'd rather secure the books on their own which makes sense for some majors that use less expensive or fewer books, or those who search out alternative sources, etc.

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Want to clarify it's $129/quarter for ALL their classes together (not $129/class).

UCLA switched to a quarterly book access fee which we love. For $129/quarter students have access to all books they'd need for a class. Students can opt out if they'd rather secure the books on their own which makes sense for some majors that use less expensive or fewer books, or those who search out alternative sources, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Could work well for gen ed books you won't use later. But for books in your major, it's better to have your own copy, perhaps

This is old school way of thinking.

Do kids even buy books? Mine is a junior and hasn't bought a textbook yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I continue to believe that any course with a book you rent is not a worthwhile course, but is a scam

LOL what is the difference between buying a book (used if at all possible) and then returning it at the end of the course for a refund? (which was how it worked for every class I took at my college). At least renting is more straightforward since you wouldn't know going in what you'd get back when returning the book.

My daughter's college includes all books/supplies in the tuition. So, the books are all rentals and returned at the end of the semester. I believe she can pay a fee if she wants to keep a book. It's been nice not to have to think about book expenses. She just goes to pick everything up at the start of the semester.

Not the PP, but every book I sold back was for a garbage course. Things have changed, my DC has same major I had but purchased almost no books. Professors gave Dropbox links, or kids know how to find a pirated copy. The only time this doesn’t work is canned curriculums w/machine graded problem sets. Can’t always be avoided, but these are today’s garbage courses.

Anonymous wrote:I continue to believe that any course with a book you rent is not a worthwhile course, but is a scam

LOL what is the difference between buying a book (used if at all possible) and then returning it at the end of the course for a refund? (which was how it worked for every class I took at my college). At least renting is more straightforward since you wouldn't know going in what you'd get back when returning the book.

My daughter's college includes all books/supplies in the tuition. So, the books are all rentals and returned at the end of the semester. I believe she can pay a fee if she wants to keep a book. It's been nice not to have to think about book expenses. She just goes to pick everything up at the start of the semester.

I continue to believe that any course with a book you rent is not a worthwhile course, but is a scam

College kids know how to obtain every textbook online for free…and in many classes the prof prepares their own materials.

For two kids that have completed a total of 5 semesters, we have spent less than $100 cumulatively on books.

I’ll bite.

DC is at WVU and they also use the B&N “rental” system. Here’s the experience so far:

1st Sem: we encouraged her to utilize the rental system. At <$300, we thought it would be a bargain since both DH and I came thru programs that had insanely heavy and expensive textbooks. Turns out, not so much. Many of the professors used their own materials, had “free” coupons, or pointed to online resources. In total, the rental fee was only about $50 more than what was actually needed and it saved a lot of angst about “knowing” her expenses.

In between: DC did a little more research on the upcoming courses and syllabi (either by looking online, finding a current/former student, or asking the prof directly).

2nd Sem: didn’t use rentals, and again, only spent ~$200 (some of which wouldn’t have even been covered by the rental program). So we came out ahead.

3rd Sem: research this time indicated the rental would be worth it and DC felt they would not want to keep even the in-major texts as most of the “reference” materials (like anatomy and drug names/types/indications) are better online.

Upcoming 4th Sem: gonna pass again on the rentals, altogether.

So, short story is, as with most things — it depends and YMMV.

My dd's textbooks included an access code needed to complete homework. Make sure that any used book includes that.

This is common now.

Could work well for gen ed books you won't use later. But for books in your major, it's better to have your own copy, perhaps

Does your kid attend a college or university that has a rental program for books? How was renting books? Many California State system campuses use B&Noble College for textbook rentals, where you rent from the campus bookstore. Other large publics such as U of Minnesota too. And U of Washington has its own system for rentals. Student pays a fee to use the book for the semester, returning it by the last day of finals. The rental price is the same for new or used books.