With the fall semester rapidly approaching, it’ll soon be time to pick up your books. While never a pleasant endeavor, there is some good news that should make buying textbooks a less painful process.

First, Amazon.com is now offering their Amazon Prime service free for a year to anyone with a .edu email address. With Amazon Prime, you’ll get free two day shipping, so you can wait until drop/add week to buy your books online. Head over to their student page to sign up.

Second, your books themselves may be getting cheaper if a recent bill gets through the PA House of Representatives. The bill would require PA universities to evaluate the “educational soundness and price of textbooks.” More importantly, textbook printers would be required to provide the university with the exact changes from edition to edition of the same book. Many times I’ve found I get by fine in a class with an old edition, even when the professor “requires” the latest edition.

Lastly, if you aren’t set on owning your books, Chegg.com is offering a special on their textbook rentals. Besides saving a ton compared to buying your books (more than the difference of selling it back), you can get an additional five percent off when you use the code “nittany” at checkout. While that might not seem like much now, halfway through the semester when you’re debating whether you really need two entire meals a day, that extra five or 10 dollars will seem a lot more valuable.

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