Although some institutions of higher education are adopting a rental system for textbooks, local college bookstores show no signs of veering from the current program of buying books back from students.

Under a rental system, students would pay a per-book fee that would be significantly lower than the purchase price. Students could also apply the rental price toward an eventual purchase if they want.

According to a recent report released by the National Association of College Stores (NACS), the price of textbooks has risen faster than the rate of inflation. A report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office confirmed that textbook prices are increasing at an average annual rate of 6 percent and have nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004.

The NACS report states that college bookstores typically get the textbooks directly from the publishers, who establish the amount charged to stores. Based on that price, the college stores then establish a retail price for students.

According to the NACS report, as of last spring, only about 1 percent of NACS member stores in the United States and Canada offered textbook rental services. Some campuses offer a system in which only certain titles, often books for entry-level courses, are available for rent.

Tom Fankhauser, assistant manager of the Penn State Bookstore in the HUB-Robeson Center, said he has heard complaints from students about the price of textbooks, but there are no plans to switch to a rental system.

"People have been complaining about the price of books for 50 years," he said.

Fankhauser said the biggest problem with the textbook rental system is that for the system to be feasible, departments and/or professors must commit to a book for more than two years, and in big universities like Penn State, things are always changing.

He said the bookstore does not earn back the price until after the first year, so it is not a profitable alternative for them.

"You have to be able to maximize the times you rent before you can get a return on it," Fankhauser said.

Matthew Alford, manager from the Got Used Bookstore, 206 E. College Ave., said although it is not an in-store decision because the store is run by a corporation, he has heard no talk of it switching to a textbook rental service.

A manager from the Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., was not available for comment.

Joe Lavin (sophomore-crime, law and justice) said that although he doesn't have much of a complaint about the current price of textbooks, he would take advantage of a rental service if it were implemented.

"I'd do it if they had it," he said. "You'd probably save money."

Ann DuBois (graduate-counselor education) said a rental system would be beneficial to students.

"I think that would be great; you wouldn't have to spend so much money at the beginning of the semester," she said. "It's definitely expensive. ... Spending $500 a semester is a lot of money, money you could use to pay bills or buy food."