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The solution is lowering the cost of textbooks. Used textbooks aren't that much cheaper. I took an Anatomy class where I bought a used text book for $150. The new one was $200. I didn't use the book once. When I resold the book the bookstore bought it for $50. Where does the money go? Who is reaping the benefits of these grossly overpriced books? Certainly not the cash strapped students. I have been a college student at least part-time for the last eleven years and I can't think of one time when I have really used any of the books I have bought for a class. Most professors test off of their lectures.

Another issue are the endless editions published. Used textbooks are useless when a new edition is published every year. I had to drop a class two weeks into it but I kept the book thinking that when I took the class in the spring I would be using the same book. Wrong! I had to buy a whole new book and the bookstore wouldn't buy back my older edition. I swear there was maybe one page worth of changes in the whole four-hundred page book.

It makes me wonder if the teachers get kickbacks for using the textbooks in their classes. Textbook publishers court Universities like the NFL courts draft picks.My favorite are the teachers who require books they have authored or co-authored. I would be interested to know how much they make off of each book.

I do think there is a legitimate need for the structure and information textbooks offer but there has to be a balance. The amount of money it takes to attend college is only exacerbated by the high cost of books. I have spent at least $5,000 in the last ten years on books I will never use again.

Pretty soon the cost of higher education will be out of reach for most Americans. Our colleges and universities need to begin to streamline the cost of attending starting with the seemingly endless fess and ending with the price of textbooks. There needs to be a choice for students. Some cheaper and eco-friendly alternative to textbooks. With the availability of internet usage on campuses with Wi-Fi perhaps the next generation of textbooks will be accessible online cutting the cost drastically for students.

Learn more about this author, Lindsey Brander.
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