The BU Campus Store offers a variety of mediums for students to choose from for textbooks, including physical copies and e-books.

Student Life

Your Textbook Questions Answered: Buy or Rent? Digital or Physical?

Tips to help you shop and find the best deals

Whether you’re coming to Boston University from close to the city, a few states away, or outside the country, Move-In affects all incoming students with its flurry of U-haul trucks and cardboard boxes. With the first day of classes around the corner—September 3—it’s almost time to unpack, make new friends, and head to the bookstore for textbooks and required reading. 

Although textbooks are required for nearly every college course, they can often be quite an investment: according to data from College Board, the average four-year undergraduate spent nearly $350 on course materials during the 2024-2025 academic year. But don’t fret: with eBooks and rental companies, students have more options than ever for managing their educational tools in cost-effective ways.

The majority of students will be drawn to the recently rebranded Boston University Campus Store (formerly Barnes and Noble @ BU) for its convenience when buying their textbooks. The store, which underwent a recent makeover, is on West Campus, across from BU’s Fitness & Recreation Center (FitRec), so students can easily pick up their textbooks or have them shipped to their new address before classes start. 

To do so, use the “View/Order Course Materials” tab under “Enrollment” on the Student Link. Once there, all needed textbooks will be listed. Students then select from used print, new print, eBook options, and rental textbooks options. 

Kurt Mahnke, BU Campus Store general manager, says that just under 80 percent of all textbooks at the store are available for rental. “Renting a physical book in the store gives you an average of 60 percent savings,” he says, “depending on whether it’s a new or used book and what the savings is per title.”

Digital options abound

Since more students are using online textbooks in high school, Mahnke adds, they tend to gravitate toward digital options in college, too. 

The BU Campus Store has responded accordingly. Its newest initiative, First Day, piloted in fall 2022. The no-fuss program automatically delivers class materials to a student’s Blackboard account on the first day of class. After that, students have until October 8 (the class drop deadline to avoid a “withdraw” on a transcript) to opt out of the program and pursue other avenues for purchasing their textbooks.

However, over 90 percent of students in the program stay because of its convenience and pricing, Mahnke says. By working with BU publishing partners, students participating in First Day reduce the cost of textbooks by about 32 percent, he estimates. 

The BU Campus Store is also continuing its Price Match program for textbooks found at lower prices on Amazon, bn.com, and other local competitors. However, this program applies only to physical textbooks. If you want a lower price for an eBook, you might want to try a different method.

Despite the convenience and affordability initiatives offered through the BU Campus Store, buying from an outside vendor might still be a little easier on the wallet. 

Some students opt for subscription services that offer a catalog of digital textbooks for a monthly payment, like Perelego, which offers over a million textbooks for $22 per month, or Scribd, which provides millions of eBooks, online documents, and presentations for $11.99 per month.

In the digital age, many individual textbook publishers have also expanded their online platforms, which now often include additional practice questions and assignments. Publisher Cengage, for example, has Cengage Unlimited, which gives access to any of its online learning platforms, its entire catalog of eBooks, and four textbook rentals (shipping and handling not included) for $129.99/month. Competitor Pearson offers an à la carte option with a lower monthly price of $10.99/month for individual textbooks.

Physical books still an option

For students who are drawn to physical textbooks, BookScouter provides a platform of over 20 vendors for buying and selling used and new books. Upperclassmen with leftover textbooks from prior years can use Ziffit to sell their books and make some extra cash. 

Ronan Nealis (Pardee’25) typically buys textbooks through BU and uses a mix of physical and virtual textbooks. He recommends waiting until the first day of class (after seeing the teacher’s syllabus and the first class meeting) to see if all the textbooks listed through Student Link are actually needed. 

Brady Willis (COM‘25) echoes this and also advises students to talk to upperclassmen and friends who have previously taken the same classes. “Always ask your friends where they get their textbooks,” he says. 

Many students who bought textbooks in the past may be willing to sell them for a lower rate to friends and peers on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook Marketplace, so keep an eye out as the summer comes to a close. 

Willis also says professors will occasionally direct students to links or websites with free access to textbooks if they are available.

Whichever path you pursue, be sure to keep these things in mind before you rent or buy any textbook (virtual or physical):