Follett’s rental program remains popular with college students
OAK BROOK — Follett Higher Education Group’s Rent-A-Text continues to grow and remains the most popular choice for students looking to save big on course materials.
Students across the country this fall saved nearly $90 million compared to the cost of buying new books by using Rent-A-Text, the company said in a statement. Students also bought more CafeScribe digital textbooks as sales more than doubled compared to last year’s figures.
“The growth and popularity of both Rent-A-Text and CafeScribe digital textbooks show that we have been successful in meeting the evolving needs of our customers,” said Thomas A. Christopher, president of Follett Higher Education Group. “We will continue to grow our offerings to ensure students have more choices and better access to affordable course materials on all of the campuses we serve, both in-store and online.”
Textbook rentals doubled this year compared to last, making Follett’s Rent-A-Text the fastest growing in-store and online bookstore rental program. The company has already rented more than 4.5 million textbooks and saved students more than $215 million. Follett’s rental programs are expected to save students more than $200 million in the 2011-2012 academic year alone.
In a national survey conducted by Follett this September, 99 percent of students expressed satisfaction for the program and a majority of students said they had a better opinion of their bookstore after using Rent-A-Text. Students also reported buying additional course materials and textbooks with their savings.
Rent-A-Text is available at more than 860 Follett-managed bookstores in the United States and Canada. The program provides savings, on average, of 50 percent or more compared to new textbook prices and is also available online through efollett.com. As a leader in the textbook industry, Follett also offers rental solutions to virtual and independently-managed bookstores.
This fall, Follett announced a new version of its CafeScribe platform that makes digital textbooks smarter with better study tools, more accessibility on different types of devices and more book titles than ever before.
Already, students are taking advantage of the CafeScribe application’s unique study tools with hundreds of thousands of highlights, notes and bookmarks created. One of the many dynamic tools available through the new version of the product is Snap Summary, which allows users to quickly and easily compile their notes and highlights into a powerful study and reference tool.
“The CafeScribe application is truly a dynamic digital textbook platform that allows students to interact with their textbooks,” said Christopher. “We are committed to serving the current and future needs of the academic community and we are confident that CafeScribe digital textbooks will continue to be an affordable and reliable choice for our students.”