Everyone knows that going to college can give your future career an incredible boost.
However, it’s getting to the point where it’s so expensive people are going into huge amounts of debt just to make it through their course of study.
Not only is tuition expensive, but buying textbooks and getting tutoring can cost a small fortune as well. Chegg is an education technology company that sought to make things a little less burdensome for college students, and so far, they’ve done a tremendous job.
Let’s take a look at all the services Chegg offers, including their paid tutoring program, and see if you think it’s worth it.
All About The Chegg, Inc. Brand
Chegg was launched in 2005 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. Their mission was to increase student’s return on investment (ROI) on their education.
Going to college has gotten so expensive that some people have trouble keeping up with their loan payments even after graduating and getting a good job.
To make college more affordable, Chegg offers cheaper textbook sales and rentals as well as very affordable tutoring and homework help.
More than 7,000 educational institutions use Chegg throughout the United States, and over 6.6 million students are subscribing to their study plan in the states.
They have recently gone international and hope to reach 1 million international student subscribers soon.
Their business surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as many students were left to learn virtually and needed more tutoring to get through their most challenging classes. Chegg believes that more virtual learning and virtual tutoring will be in our future.
Renting or Buying Textbooks With a Free Chegg Account
Your free Chegg account will get access to rent or buy books in physical or digital form. These books are heavily discounted. Per their website, some of the textbooks are up to 90% off the retail price. They seem to have an almost endless supply of different textbooks, including over 400,000 ebooks.
The textbooks cover high school and college levels, so home school teens or college students can use them. Their prices are phenomenal, and you have flexibility in how you choose to purchase your book.
You can start out by renting the book, but you can extend your rental or purchase the book if you want to keep a copy. You are allowed to highlight your borrowed textbooks, but please don’t write in the margins.
You can get instant access to their digital books. Digital books are less expensive, easy to transport, and you can still highlight and write notes in digital books. They are a great alternative to carrying around clunky textbooks everywhere you go.
You can subscribe for a set amount of time or take out a monthly subscription to the book you need. You can access your ebook from any device, but Chegg has its own e-reader built into its app.
As an example, the picture above is one result that came up during a search for recently purchased college-level algebra textbooks.
As you can see, the price to rent this book starts at just $48, when the list price of the book is well over $200. You can also get instant access to a rented digital copy for only $39.
Details About the Chegg Study Program
Besides the textbook rentals, Chegg has a unique study program with a low cost of $14.99 a month. Since most private tutoring costs upwards of $20 an hour, this price is a steal. The study program offers homework help in several ways so that no matter how you learn best, you’ll be covered.
What’s Included In The Chegg Study Subscription?
- Step-by-step textbook solutions for over 9,000 books.
- Ask experts and tutors questions 24/7.
- Search the homework forums for instant answers to common questions.
Many textbooks, such as math and science-related courses, include video walkthroughs and practice sets. You can view this material on the Chegg website or by using their free app. You must have the Study Subscription to access these guides. Other helpful material includes flashcards, homework help chat, and an active message board.
Study Help Is Offered In The Following Categories:
- Business
- Finance
- Economics
- Accounting
- Operations
- Civil Engineering (all types)
- Engineering (including computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering)
- Math (all types)
- Science (including physics, chemistry, and biology)
The Pros And Cons Of A Chegg Membership
The pros of a Chegg membership include reduced price textbooks and rental, in addition to a free trial of the study program for seven days.
They are viewed as highly reliable for correct answers to homework questions and offer a fair and affordable price. There are several ways to access homework solutions that are available online and offline 24 hours a day.
The cons of a Chegg study membership are paying a fixed price for a monthly service (even if you’re not using it much), and the homework solutions aren’t available for all textbooks.
Alternatives To Chegg Study
The top competitor for Chegg is Course Hero. Course Hero offers homework help, primarily based on fellow students and some educators.
Their service is a little cheaper at under $10 a month. You can also “earn” unlocked tutoring and homework help by contributing to the site. You can upload your own study materials, rate other study materials, and refer friends to earn homework help without paying the monthly fee. This can save you money but is a lot of extra work.
On the flip side, Chegg is slightly more expensive but offers textbook solutions from professors, tutors, and the textbook makers themselves. One advantage Course Hero does have is that it includes more topics such as literature and social sciences.
FAQs About Chegg
What Is Chegg’s “Honor Code”?
Chegg wants to support student’s learning, not replace it. It is easy for people to misuse the site in order to complete their homework without doing any of the work themselves. That is where there are limits on questions per month.
If you attempt to use Chegg’s services to cheat and you are discovered, your account will be suspended. They may also contact your school and report the abuse. You can read more about the honor code here.
How do I cancel my Chegg Study account?
When you choose to cancel, your account will stay active until the end of the billing cycle. There is a cancel subscription button on this page. You can also access changes to your account on their website in your settings. If you are using a free trial, make sure to cancel before the time period is up or be charged for the next full month.
How do I ask a Chegg Study question?
Your membership gives you access to a community of experts for homework help. You must have a paid account and be signed in to access the question area. When submitting a question, make sure to add all relevant details. Your question will typically be answered in 2 hours or less.
Can I share my Chegg Study account with a friend?
Your account is for personal use only. You are not permitted to share your account or password with other users. If you access Chegg on too many devices or have other unusual account activity, your account might be suspended.
How do I return rented textbooks to Chegg?
Digital books will expire and be removed from your account once your time is up. Physical textbooks can be returned for free using a prepaid label provided by Chegg. You can always decide to purchase your textbook if you wish to keep it.
What happens if I return a textbook late?
If you miss your due date, you’ll be charged a 25% extension fee. You will then have another ten days to return your book. If you still do not return your book, then you will be charged for the full purchase price.
If this were a mistake, you would still get a seven-day grace period to return the book for a refund. If you were charged a fee after you already sent your book in, simply check your return status and let Chegg know, they would take care of that fee as long as you mailed the book on time and it simply got hung up by the mail carrier.
Is The Chegg Study Membership Worth It?
Chegg has been in business for a long time and is growing at an accelerated rate.
Their commitment to making education more affordable and easier to access is right on track with where technology in learning is going.
You simply can’t get a better deal on homework help than $14.99 a month unlimited. While there is another service out there cheaper, you’ll need to check the courses of study against what you are interested in learning to see which is the best fit for you.
The Chegg service would be a great asset to any serious student that needs extra help after class. The monthly cost is worth it when you consider how important your education is.
