Inside Higher Ed has an article about a new survey from the Student Monitor that is showing this.
The survey, which polled 1,200 full-time students (average age: 20.6) at four-year institutions in March, found that the proportion of students who rented at least one textbook this spring doubled from last spring, leaping from 12 percent to 24 percent. Students who rented reported an average savings of $127. And the renting trend shows no sign of slowing: 36 percent of underclassmen said they are either likely or very likely to rent at least one textbook next semester.
The most popular rental source was campus bookstores, many of which made a big push to get out ahead of the rental trend by expanding (and publicizing) their rental operations prior to last fall. But students appeared to be most satisfied with their experiences with the independent book rental site Chegg.com, which they gave superior marks for price, punctuality, and ease of use.
E-textbooks, meanwhile, have continued to lag. Only 5 percent of the survey respondents said they purchased access to an e-textbook this spring. Two percent bought e-textbooks for more than one class. The most common reason for going electronic? “My professor required me to.”
Thanks to Michael von Glahn for the link.
Students look and behave more like the “rational economic man” they learn about in Economics 101 than anyone else on campus. For most of them, it’s a necessity.
It all depends upon the choices they are offered. So, as long as professors adopt books from major publishers (the path of least resistance), publishers will call the tune. Publishers want to kill the secondary (used) market and rental is a step in that direction. Students are not (yet) offered digital eTexts with acceptable terms (cheap and w/p DRM so as to be durable) so they stick with the devil they know. Rental simply streamlines the age-old process of buying and selling back text books.