Barnes & Noble College stores are now starting to offer textbook rentals at 25 U.S. colleges, expanding from the pilot program of 3 colleges they had originally.  Students that attend colleges participating in this program, such as The Ohio State University and University of South Carolina, will be able to rent online or go to their local B&N College bookstore.

While renting textbooks is not a groundbreaking concept, Chegg.com has pretty much cornered that market, B&N does have the advantage of having physical bookstore locations on campus so you can walk in and rent the book in person and then return it without having to mail.  Prices for renting usually save you about 60 – 75% off of the price of a new textbook.  For example, at Chegg.com the popular “Biology” book by Neil Campbell is $49.49 to rent for a semester, while the cost of it new on Amazon.com is $142.77.  While you could buy the book new and resell it after you’re done, there’s the problem that sometimes bookstores won’t buy back a book because a new version is coming out the next semester.  By renting, you know exactly what your upfront cost is.

To find out if you’re local B&N college bookstore is going to be participating in the book rental program just visit the stores website and look for a logo below: