The following information is an extension of the article ‘The Book Bundle Blunder’ released in the March 2025 print Issue. If you have not read that article yet, please read it first as it provides valuable background to the information presented here.
“I met with someone representing the College of Technology, and we went through every single program. We found that only 2 programs in the college would save [students] money [using the Book Bundle]. For my college, I am totally against it – if only 2 out of over 40 programs could use this, I can’t see a reason for it.”
That was Ryan Glass, College of Technology senator for ASISU. It’s not only College of Technology who feels this way – “Many people are very unsatisfied, from all kinds of colleges. The general consensus seems to be that it’s had a negative impact on the university.”
And the data backs it up.
Let’s take a look at the results from the student survey run by The Bengal. (Last updated 3/29)
There was a good turnout from all parts of the university, representing many colleges.
The data from the faculty and staff survey also had similar results.
But out of all the data collected, this chart from the faculty and staff survey perhaps sums up most clearly how the university feels about the Book Bundle:
And it’s not only our data that shows the Book Bundle is not helping students. Cleveland State University was also approached with a proposal to put into place a program very similar to the Book Bundle. However, unlike ISU, they ran a study before putting it into place. It’s a good thing they did, because the study showed students were against the program, and they ultimately decided against it.
In addition, though we failed to add it to our survey, Cleveland State asked students if they were given free textbooks (an example of faculty’s hard work to keep prices low and fair for students), and if they utilized all textbooks they purchased.
When Cleveland State ran that survey, telling students they might get Book Bundle-like program, “it sparked a bit of an outrage.” Justin Samsa told me. He’s the current president of the Cleveland State Student Government Association, and was a key figure in stopping their program in its tracks. “We had students reaching out and making a difference. [The program] is predatory to students… it’s an amazing way to make money, but it takes advantage of students, busy students, economically disadvantaged students, who might not be able to feed themselves because they’re out 500 dollars. “
After running their survey, “our Faculty Senate formally denounced the program after seeing the facts from the survey presented.”
Other universities have also had negative experiences.
From Emporia State University, Maddie Carr, Editor-in-Chief at The Bulletin, told me: “We got mixed reviews. There was a lot of confusion around the Book Bundle.”
At University of Connecticut, opinions were mixed as well. In a recent round table review of their Book Bundle program, one writer for their student newspaper called it a “double-edged sword”, while another said the Book Bundle “could be summed up in one word: greed”.
After all this evidence, what did the ISU bookstore have to say? I asked them a series of questions in an email, and they responded by sending me their responses in a pdf. I’ve uploaded it below.
Reading their responses, it’s incredibly obvious that at no point does the bookstore actually answer my questions. It’s particularly glaring in Question 4, where they are asked if they collect opt-out rate information, and what that rate is. The question is never actually answered, and the closest response is “we’ve made the opt-out process simple and easy”.
But we don’t need the Bookstore’s vague answers to know how the Book Bundle program has turned out – we have our own student testimonials.
And these are only a small selection of the responses we received. From PhD students to History majors, responses were extremely negative. They shared a variety of issues, such as books never becoming available, difficulty in opting out, paying for the Book Bundle despite not needing a single book that semester, and more.
Faculty and staff feel similarly.
I’ve had students be convinced to take the book bundle against their own financial interests. They then come to class saying that the bookstore doesn’t have their book bundle book yet at the beginning of the semester. Part of the whole justification was that it would help students get their books in a timely way, so it was very frustrating to hear students say that even signing up with book bundle they didn’t have the books in time. When we talk about book bundle for my class in particular (since my classes tend to be in the below $30 total range for books) I am dismayed to find many students don’t realize that they’re being asked to do something that is a poor deal for them. They also don’t seem to realize that they are only renting the books and not able to keep them. I am quite frankly embarrassed to be associated with this decision of the university: it is not in our students’ interest.
Communications from university offices often go along with the Book Bundle’s claims of being a good deal- there’s nothing wrong with this if it is true, however, I have my doubts, given the experience of my students. Though I don’t have hard data on this, I’m nearly certain that it is a bad deal for the good majority of students in the majors I advise. It’s unclear to me if it’s a good deal for the majority of ISU students campuswide or not. If it is not a good deal for a majority of students (or if decision makers at the university don’t have the data to determine if it is), then I think these communications are irresponsible at best or unacceptably misleading at worst.
Here’s the hard data to prove that it is a bad deal for the majority. That’s not to say it doesn’t help some students – it overwhelmingly favors students in STEM majors, particularly healthcare majors, who have high textbook costs. It then redistributes that cost to humanities majors and others, with extra profits likely being pocketed by Barnes and Noble.
If you’re interested in sharing your own experiences with the Book Bundle, click below on the survey that applies to you.
Student Survey: https://forms.gle/YtWTbYt15bpakdQH7
Faculty and Staff Survey: https://forms.gle/dFK65teQCBZV8LYY7
Is is possible for the University to stop the program? Chance Reynolds, former ASISU vice president, thinks so. “I think if students were vocal enough, they absolutely can change it. They just don’t know the people to talk to. And even if they did, it needs to be a good group of them.”
While working on this article, I’ve met with people from all different sides of the University. Grad students, student veterans, art majors, advisors, directors, teachers, and more. Without a doubt, I can say that the message has been clear- this is a program that hurts the majority of students to help a select minority. So what now? That’s up to you.
Thanks for laying this out so clearly.