The University Book Store has been awarded a $300,000 grant to launch a textbook rental program.

While the grant will not cover all of the costs associated with starting the program, it will help to kick-start it, a move that may not have happened without funding from the Department of Education.

“This is a good thing, because beginning a rental program is a significant investment,” said Amy Delashmutt, program coordinator at the book store.

The grant application for the Course Materials Rental Initiative included not only a statement of need, but also an overview of the planned program and how it would be marketed.

“We just got official word 10 days ago,” Delashmutt said. “The biggest barrier was always the dollars to start the program, and obviously, with it being difficult budget times, finding the cash to fund programs like this can be more and more difficult.”

The program will start small, offering the option to only a handful of classes in spring of 2010.

Delashmutt said the bookstore isn’t releasing the course titles yet because it hasn’t received firm assurances from the professors of the courses being considered.

“This is a significant commitment that comes from faculty, because they have to decide to use the same book for anywhere from four to six semesters,” Delashmutt said.

Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo., has had an established textbook rental program for 100 years, according to the Educause Quarterly Magazine, and students pay a per-credit-hour fee of $6 to participate.

One of the negative aspects of a rental program is fewer options for faculty to choose textbooks they use in their courses, said Scott Yocom, manager of the bookstore at Northwest Missouri State.

“If there’s four different instructors and they’re all teaching the same class, they have to use the same book,” Yocom said. “There’s not as much freedom for the faculty, and the books have to be used for three full years.”

There are a few exceptions, he said, for classes in areas like computer science, in which the industry changes quickly.

“Maybe the most current books aren’t being used, but I’m sure faculty take that into account,” Yocom said. “I think students are very much pleased with the way it goes, and there’s probably more good than bad in the way that it’s run here, and it takes away a good part of their cost.”

Yocom’s bookstore doesn’t manage the textbook rental program, which operates through the university. Yet it provides all of the supplemental course materials students need, such as lab manuals and test-taking materials.

Since the textbook rental program only ensures that the main textbook for each of the undergraduate classes will be available for rent, his store still gets a lot of business.

The change in cost, Yocom said, will make a difference for cash-strapped students.

“Obviously, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to take 12 [credit] hours and pay $72 dollars than to have to purchase all of those books,” Yocom said. “Even if you buy them used and sell them back, you’re still paying a lot more money.”

Delashmutt said the cost difference was one of the reasons Iowa State’s bookstore has been considering a rental program.

“Yes, it is less expensive for students, but it’s also about offering a student options,” Delashmutt said.

In the spring semester, students will be able to rent textbooks or e-textbooks for certain classes. They will also still be able to buy new or used books.

Delashmutt said the chances of every class participating in the program are slim, but she hopes the program will expand after its initial semester.

While there would be some variance, Delashmutt said renting a textbook will cost 45 percent less than the average price of a textbook.

Students will have the option to rent the books online and have them shipped, or students will be able to stop by the store and sign a rental agreement.

Fortunately for the book store, its inventory control system, Missouri Book Systems, already has a software component available for a rental system, which cuts down on the amount of preparation employees have to do.

“We had to pay a fee to utilize that portion of the software,” Delashmutt said. “But it will be very little interruption of service for students.”

Neither the University of Iowa nor the University of Northern Iowa have rental programs, although a representative from the University of Northern Iowa book store said they are considering one.