Pearson, Barnes & Noble Education Partner to Bring Students Affordable, High-Quality Textbook Rentals
Pearson announced the latest in series of partnerships to expand its textbook rental program. Today’s announcement brings Pearson’s textbook rental program to Barnes & Noble Education’s (NYSE:BNED) 1,490 physical and virtual bookstores, serving more than 6 million students. Beginning this fall, the program will be piloted at Barnes & Noble College stores, enhancing their current industry leading rental program with these 49 popular Pearson titles. The titles will be available in print and digital versions via a “rental-only” model, which will provide students with affordable access to the selected titles. All titles under this program can be rented for under $100, with electronic versions of these titles being the lowest cost option. Pearson anticipates expanding the titles included in this program over time. In January, Pearson announced a two-step plan to take on the issue of college affordability. The plan immediately reduced the prices of 2000 e-book titles by up to 50 percent when it was announced earlier this year. The second phase of the effort ensures that students can rent popular print titles online and in-store through trusted retailers. This rental-only model allows Pearson to reduce prices by up to 60 percent and ensure that all students have access to affordable textbooks. The Barnes & Noble College agreement represents the third-and largest-partnership in that program. Click Read More below for additional detail.