by Casandra Haynes

This fall, Follett Higher Education Group launched a new textbook rental option, saving students 55% off a regular-priced book.

ARLINGTON — The University of Texas at Arlington and the University of North Texas are two of seven universities across the country involved in a textbook rental movement by bookseller Follett Higher Education Group. Just like checking out a book at a library, students can rent textbooks this fall and receive relief in a tough economy. It also ensures that paper books -- which are being traded for e-books and PDFs -- are still being consumed by students.

In January, Follett plans to expand to more colleges and universities with varying demographics to help save students money. “Our main goal is to help students and parents during this economic climate,” said Elio Distaola, director of campus relations for Follett.

Renting a book requires that the student pay 45% of the book’s price. They must also provide credit card information for collateral in case the book isn’t returned. This alone will save students across the country an average of $2 million dollars a year buying books, says Distaola. All book titles are currently not available for renting yet, but more titles will be added as time progresses.

Antoinette Guardiola, a student at UNT, rented a textbook and said it is a benefit and a burden. "It's a good option for students to rent books if it's good for them at the time, but in the long run, it's bad because if they bought the book they could sell it back on eBay and get their money back -- instead of losing money for renting it since you can't sell it back to the store," she said.

The company is reaching out to students in several ways, including via a Facebook fan page. The page posts the names of winners in iPod drawings and updates on how many books they've rented this year.

Feedback on textbook renting has been generally positive for Follett so far, according to the company, but they are still trying to launch textbook renting in other parts of the country to gauge the results. “This entire year is considered a pilot year for us,” Distaola said. “We are careful about picking schools so that we can try and get good sample for the country as a whole.”

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