[Infowarrior] - College textbook rental pilot not might not be making the grade

[Richard Forno]

College textbook rental pilot not might not be making the grade
By Cristian Salazar
Saturday, November 6, 2010; 11:04 PM 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/06/AR2010110604799_pf.html

About half the nation's major college and university bookstores offered textbook rentals this fall as part of an effort to cut a cost that can be a barrier to affordable college education, at least a fivefold increase from the 300 stores that did so a year ago.

The expansion was driven in part by federal lawmakers, who endorsed a pilot program for rentals because of concern over the $600 to $900 students spend buying books each year. Twelve schools were awarded up to $1 million each this fall under a congressionally mandated Education Department effort to create book rental programs, several of them targeting lower-income or first-generation immigrant college freshmen.

But at many colleges, the programs are limited by the number of available titles, publishers who release frequent new editions and professors who think their right to choose course materials is essential to academic freedom. Schools and publishing experts say the programs are expensive to start up and difficult to operate. There also are complaints that rental prices are still too high, costing as much as half the price of a new book.

In addition, publishers face no consequences if they fail to comply with a federal law requiring publishers to give professors the price of textbooks and to list revisions to new editions. The law, which went into effect this year, also asks schools to release book lists early so that students can shop for best prices before classes begin.

"We are prohibited even from enforcing it," said Jane Glickman, an Education Department spokeswoman. "It's like guidance to the schools."

In the end, students will decide how they get their textbooks - and they have an ever-expanding galaxy of choices.

They can buy them new, shrink-wrapped at campus stores. Or search online for discounted used copies at numerous Web sites such as Amazon.com or Bigwords.com. They can download to their computers or rent them - from their campus bookstore, from online Web sites and even the publishers themselves.

Two of the largest bookstore operators, Barnes & Noble and Follett Higher Education Group, have spent millions to build their own Internet rental portals in the face of Web site competition, stocking up on inventory and developing tracking software.

Yet for all the innovation from digital media and the Internet, prices are still set by publishers, who market directly to faculty. Faculty decide titles for study, often without considering prices.

That means students are still paying hundreds each semester.

"It's ridiculous. I think we pay so much for tuition already, books should be at least affordable," said Janelle Grant, 26, a sophomore at the University of Richmond.

The National Association of College Stores says about 1,500 of its 3,000 members are running rental programs this fall and more are considering doing so, but they are wading into the model with trepidation. Startup costs can be staggering: Schools have to stock inventory, possibly hire new staff and invest in computer software to track books.

And rentals carry risk, said Charles Schmidt, a spokesman for NACS. If a publisher changes an edition or persuades faculty to use a different one, the rental model won't work.

"You need to rent the book about three times to get the profit back," he said.

James V. Koch, an economics professor at Old Dominion University and former college president who has studied the textbook market, said that for a rental system to be profitable, books have to be standardized.

"Some faculty members look at this and see it as a violation of their academic freedom," he said.

Bruce Hildebrand, of the American Publishers Association, said students can buy cheaper versions of books in a variety of formats - but don't.

"The majority still choose the traditional, hardcover, full color textbook," he said.

- Associated Press