As the fall semester begins next week at Onondaga Community College, the school's bookstore is helping students save money on their textbooks.

What You Need To Know

  • Students at OCC are saving money on their textbooks this semester through the Box of Books program

  • A partnership between OCC and Barnes and Noble allows books to be purchased and ordered in bulk and in advance, in turn, charging students less

  • Students are charged for books based on their credit hours, rather than a flat rate

  • When all is totaled up, students are saving between 30 and 50 percent on their books per semester

Onondaga Community College is the first college in the country to partner with Barnes and Noble to allow students to pay for their books based on their credits.

Professors turn in their book lists weeks in advance, so students buy all the books they need for the semester ahead in one box.

Students are charged just over $20 per credit hour and save significantly because they're buying books in bulk.

Plus, when they arrive to campus, all the books they need are in one box waiting for them to pick up.

"On average, students are saving anywhere from 30 to 50 percent for the price of textbooks for the semester," said OCC Bookstore Manager John Cusick. "What's also important, what to me is sometimes more important, is they have all their course material before their classes begin. So, if you show up to class on the first day, you've got your course material, your chance for succeeding go up very high at that point."

OCC first introduced the "Box of Books" program last year and had so much success with it several other colleges are now offering it for the first time.

Classes at OCC begin August 31. About half of the classes will be in person with the other half online.