Missouri S&T textbook rental program saves students money

No departments at MU have started the program.

By Ryan Martin

Published Sept. 26, 2008

Although a textbook rental program at Missouri University of Science and Technology saved students more than $92,000 during three semesters, no departments at MU have shown interest yet.

The Missouri S&T math department has been working with the campus bookstore since last fall to create the initial textbook rental program for the college algebra and trigonometry classes. So far, 989 students have rented a $128 math book for $34, saving a total of more than $92,000 since fall 2007, according to a news release from UM system President Gary Forsee.

Missouri S&T is part of the UM system and was named UM-Rolla until January.

The program has been available for every academic department at MU, but no departments have shown an interest, Student and Auxiliary Services spokeswoman Michelle Froese said.

"We're willing to do a pilot here as soon as someone is willing to try it," she said.

Only certain courses could work within the rental program, Froese said. The bookstore is willing to work with the departments to determine if they have a course that meets the requirements.

For the program to save students money a course has to have a large enrollment, must be offered every semester and the department has to commit to one edition of a textbook for three years, Froese said. She said there are classes that fit that description at MU.

"The selection of course materials is completely in their hands," Froese said.

The Missouri S&T math department was the only department within the UM system willing to test the rental program so far.

"The program has been successful and we hope to build on it," Missouri S&T Bookstore manager Dale Sanders said.

But there have been internal challenges. The main one has been finding a way to integrate the rental program into the bookstore's current inventory system. Its system isn't able to track the textbooks between each semester, Sanders said.

Missouri S&T's bookstore hasn't explored rental program options with other departments yet because it's still working through some of these considerations, Sanders said.

The bookstore is putting together a database of rentals for the near future and might look into integrating a completely new inventory system for the long term, Sanders said. This would allow for several courses at once.

Although MU and Missouri S&T use the same inventory systems, Froese said system restrictions are the least of her concerns.

Finding departments who are willing to make the commitment to one edition for three years is the biggest hurdle, Froese said.

It's too early to tell if the rental program is practical for students because it is still in its pilot stage, said Kandis Smith, assistant vice president for Academic and Student Affairs.

"We'd have to look further into it to see if it is cost effective for the students," Smith said.

With MU's size, the bookstore could not realistically offer renting options for every textbook, but it would continue selling used textbooks also, Froese said.

"MU is just too big for an across the board rental system, but there's definitely room for dual systems," Froese said.