During the summer, Mississippi State University and Barnes & Noble announced a collaboration called Bulldog Bundle that would affect every student enrolled at the university.
According to MSU’s website, the program offers students a flat fee for all of their required course materials. Bulldog Bundle charges $20 per class hour taken to a student’s account. For example, students taking 15 hours of courses were charged $300 this semester.
Students are automatically enrolled and charged each semester, but there is an option to opt-out of the program.
In the program’s announcement, MSU claimed it was an easier and cheaper alternative for gathering class materials, but many students drew issues with the terms of the Bulldog Bundle.
After announcing the collaboration across several social media platforms, MSU received dozens of comments from disapproving students.
Instagram user @its_hannah_daniels was one of hundreds of users to share her dissatisfaction with the new program.
“I like how the article on the website said 90% of students supported this and I have yet to find one that actually does,” she commented.
While there were many students who criticized Bulldog Bundle via social media, there are others that view the program as a useful resource for students to utilize.
Student Association President Kennedy Guest was enthusiastic about the Bulldog Bundle option for students.
Before the program was announced to the public, MSU and Barnes & Noble officials informed the Student Association of the deal.
“Even after two minutes of explanation of what the program is, we found that 100% of students in Student Association were very positive about it,” Guest said.
Guest said the Student Association was not involved in the negotiating process.
While the Student Association was in full support of this deal, other members of the student body said they found the program to be unhelpful and too expensive.
James Feduccia, a junior majoring in biochemistry, said he was overwhelmingly disappointed with the Bulldog Bundle option after it was announced.
“I thought it was a bit ridiculous and a bit monopolizing on the textbook options around Mississippi State,” Feduccia said.
He also speculated that Bulldog Bundle led to the closing of another textbook business in Starkville, which he expressed further disdain towards.
However, Guest said Bulldog Bundle had nothing to do with a local bookstore shutting down.
“Before Barnes & Noble took this system over, the university put out a proposal to have this system, and anyone could bid on it. So, those companies were approached and were able to bid on this package,” Guest said.
While this issue caused a bit of controversy among the conversation surrounding Bulldog Bundle, some students said they experienced other problems with the package.
Brooke Molen, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, said her course materials were not even covered by the Bulldog Bundle.
“I found out right away that it would not cover some of my online stuff, and that was not fun to hear,” Molen said.
She said her classes required online access for interactive programs that are separate from Barnes & Noble textbooks and access codes.
Students like Feduccia said they are having trouble accepting some of the terms of the program, like the cost per credit hour. He said it was absurd to charge for classes that do not require textbooks.
“Three of my credit hours this semester are research credit hours, where they do not even require textbooks, so that is $60 added onto it, which is unnecessary” Feduccia said.
On the contrary, Guest said Bulldog Bundle saved him at least $25.
On social media, the most heavily-discussed aspect of the Bulldog Bundle was the “opt out” feature, which implies that students are automatically enrolled and charged before they are able to decline the program.
The comment section on MSU’s Instagram post was full of students objecting to this facet of the Bulldog Bundle. Instagram user @jackparrrr was one of several commenters directly addressing the opt out feature of the program.
“Literally everyone I know is trying to opt out of this,” they commented. “Why do you automatically enroll everyone in this every semester?” 
Both Feduccia and Molen expressed frustration surrounding the opt-out aspect of the program, as they claimed it increased their stress to be faced with charges on their student account that they did not agree to.
Guest said the opt-out feature ensured that more students were opted in, so the program could be cheaper per credit hour.
“The more students that we have opt-in, the cheaper it is per credit hour, and the cheaper that we are providing students course materials,” Guest said.
Guest said this was done in the best interest of the students.
Feduccia said he felt differently about what was best for students.
“I just feel like Mississippi State is not really taking the time to listen to their students or the general opinion … sometimes, I feel like the student government may not actually represent the feelings of the population,” Feduccia said.

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Madelyn Sykes | The Reflector

On the second floor of Barnes and Noble, students wait in line to pick up class materials that are included in the Bulldog Bundle.