Archie's Book Bundle

Archie's Book Bundle is a course material and textbook rental program that lowers the cost of course materials and ensures students have their required course materials on the first day of class.

• Register for your classes, and the USI Campus Store will start preparing your course materials.
• One month before classes start, you will receive an email instructing you to review your courses. At this time, you will have an option to either opt out of the program or choose how to receive your materials (in-store pickup or shipped directly to you for a nominal shipping fee).
• An email notification will be sent when your order is ready for pickup or when it ships.
• Your digital materials will be delivered for your course(s) via Blackboard.

Currently, the program is available to undergraduate students.

All eligible undergraduate students will be automatically enrolled in Archie's Book Bundle.

For Archie's Book Bundle program, $24 per credit hour will be applied to your student account.

Archie’s Book Bundle fees are applied directly to a student’s account and may be paid with financial aid, scholarships and/or loans. 

With this program, students will save on average between 35-50% on the cost of required course materials throughout their academic career.

Yes. Each semester you will have the option to opt out of the program by submitting the Archie's Book Bundle Opt-Out Form. You must opt out prior to the end of the 100% refund period.  

No. Opting out means you opt out of the entire semester and may not choose to purchase selected materials only at the reduced cost. Priority for filling student orders will be given to students enrolled in the Archie’s Book Bundle program.

You will have the option to have your books shipped directly to you at following rates:

• Ground Shipping: $7.99
• Two Day Shipping: $15.99
• One Day Shipping: $23.99

If you drop or add a course, you will be provided instructions for returning your dropped course materials, and delivery options for any new courses that are added will be provided to you. Fee adjustments will be made for any changes to overall semester credit hours. 

Yes. Eligible undergraduate students will be automatically enrolled in the Archie's Book Bundle program every semester. Students will be required to confirm their course materials list and choose a delivery option each semester.  

Any student choosing to opt out of the program will have to do so each semester. 

Course materials and the delivery format are selected by the course instructor. Based on these adoptions, the program provides all required textbooks, laboratory manuals and access codes to undergraduate students.

The program does not include consumables that cannot be returned and reused such as laboratory goggles, dissection kits, molecular model kits, engineering kits or nursing kits. Any textbooks and other course materials designated as recommended, instead of required, are not included. 

Yes. The program provides you with the option to purchase textbooks at a reduced rate during the return period.

Yes. You will still be required to return continuation course textbooks. You will be issued the same title for the next semester of the continuation course.

If books are not returned by the due date, you will be charged a replacement fee for the cost of the book(s). 

The deadline to return all rental textbooks is the last day of finals. Students will receive email reminders about the rental deadline to their USI email address.

Yes. Students are able to purchase, at normal retail price, course materials and supplies for their courses at the USI Campus Store.

Yes, after reviewing all your course syllabus or using our Compare Opt Out Prices tool and you have determined your courses do not require a textbook, you must opt out. Simply not taking action or not having required textbooks will not automatically opt you out of the program.

Archie's Book Bundle is a course material and textbook rental program administered by Barnes & Noble College (BNC) through the USI Campus Store. The book program is for UNDERGRADUATE students and reduces the cost of books to ensure students have required materials for all registered courses prior to the first day of class. The USI Campus Store will provide each student with a convenient package for physical books, and digital materials will be automatically embedded into the student’s Blackboard course shell. The fee for the book program is $24 per credit hour which will be added to the student’s account and may be paid for with financial aid, scholarships or loans. For example, students taking the standard full-time course load of 15 credit hours will be charged a total of $360 for all required course materials. By comparison, the USI Financial Aid Office estimates books for a full-time student to cost $600 per semester, so this program offers substantial savings. Savings will vary by semester.

Archie's Book Bundle benefits students in a variety of ways: 

• The program allows students to have all the required materials they need to be successful in classes from day one.  
• Books and materials are conveniently packaged at a competitive cost, on average, 35-50% savings throughout an academic career.  
• Students and families can plan for the cost of books as the per credit price is set annually.  
• Archie’s Book Bundle fees are applied directly to a student’s account and may be paid with financial aid, scholarships and/or loans. 
• Campus Store staff will offer concierge service in store to help with schedules where classes have been dropped or added. 
• Knowing the fixed cost for required materials per semester saves time by negating the need to shop around. 

Faculty are required to submit their course material selections to the USI Campus Store by the May 2, 2022 adoption deadline. Adhering to this timing is vital so that appropriate books can be ordered and packaged in time for students to have all their required course materials for the semester prior to the first day of class. Faculty members are required to select the modality of the required materials (e.g. hardcopy, electronic). 

No. There are no restrictions to the course materials you select for your course(s). All course materials, from any publisher, in your preferred format are included in the program. 

Yes. Each semester undergraduate students will receive personalized emails including their course materials list and book bundle cost, based on the number of credit hours taken. A student may elect to opt out by following the instructions in the email. Students must opt out prior to the end of the 100% refund period. Opting out means a student opts out of the entire semester and may not choose to purchase selected materials only at the reduced cost.  Priority for filling student orders will be given to students enrolled in the Archie’s Book Bundle program.

BNC is committed to lowering the costs of course materials for students, and with an integrated supply chain and economies of scale, the Archie's Book Bundle program brings a new and innovative way to provide an affordable solution to USI students. The program will be evaluated annually to assess costs and affordability.  

The USI Campus Store is committed to ensuring the textbook adoption platform is updated with the new course materials.  The faculty member should notify the USI Campus Store of the changes to their teaching assignment. 

If a student drops or adds a course, the student is provided instructions for returning their dropped course materials, and delivery options for any new courses that have been added are provided to them. Fee adjustments will be made for any changes to overall semester credit hours.

Students are assessed the program fee for the total number of credits taken per semester, not by the number of courses utilizing the program. However, students usually still see an overall savings with the book bundle program even if some of their classes do not require materials. If a student is taking an internship or has only one or two courses with required materials, these may be limited reasons for a student to opt out of the program.