Have you heard? You can rent books from the Simpson College Bookstore.

Hallelujah.

We almost don’t need to say anything else on the topic, but we will. And first off, we’d like to thank the bookstore. Thank you for saving us money and thank you for coming through in a clutch. Walking out of the bookstore with some cash left over is definitely a new feeling.

According to a USA TODAY article on Aug. 17, college students will potentially be saving hundreds of dollars this fall thanks to more than 1,000 college bookstores initiating book rental programs.

The cost of tuition has only gone up since most of us have started our careers in higher education. An increase here, an increase there; It was nice to finally see a cost-saving measure.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act went into effect on July 1 mandating that institutions that receive federal assistance must provide textbook pricing to students further in advance. With this act going into effect, according to a New York Times article by Ian Ayres, students could “shop around for a better textbook price.”

This may be one reason why college bookstores provided the book rental option.

The Simpson bookstore staff said that books can rent for 50 percent less than the price of a new textbook.

Assume a textbook costs $100 at a new price. If you rent it for the semester instead of purchase it with the intent to sell it back, you will save $50. I’m pretty sure we can think of a few things we could do with $50 in our pockets.

You could buy three DVDs from Wal-Mart, 19.6 gallons of gas and 20 loaves of bread from Hy-Vee. Need we say more?

The bookstore usually gets nothing but grief from students about how it prices books, apparel and other expensive necessities, so it feels good to give them some praise.

Walking to the checkout counter this fall to discover that we had a rental option was more than surprising. It was exhilarating.

This is definitely something that Simpson should continue. Thank you.