Textbooks.

I think I'm gonna go into the textbook writing market. If I can get several teachers at several colleges to require my textbooks, then I'll be in for a fortune!

Sarcasm aside, I thought educators were supposed to make it easier for students, not harder. Tuition is hard enough to afford without going into a mountain of debt, and considering that there is no guarantee of a job when you graduate, this is a large financial risk with no guarantee of a return. If it doesn't work out in your favor, welcome to a lifetime of debt!

So then why are the prices of textbooks so high at colleges? I signed up for winter classes at Columbus State Community College, and I was appauled at the prices of my textbooks! This is nothing new, but I'm floored every quarter by the outrageous cost of a book that I'm gonna use for 10 weeks, then sell back for 1/5 of the price I paid for it IF I'M LUCKY!

One option to combat this is to enter the used book market to buy my books on the cheap, and this is an option I'm exploring. But there is a problem. It would seem that the book publishers have learned that their books aren't being bought new by every student, and have figured out a scheme to ensure that the students go further into debt in order to buy the new book from them, hence increasing the publisher's profit margins exponentially. This is by offering extra material in addition to the book that is only accessible online through the use of a pass code, which incidentally only comes with a new book! If it doesn't come with a new book, it can be sold separately for around $80!

That's right, $80 for access to an online database you'll use for 10-15 weeks then never go back to!

I thought the schools were supposed to offer the learning materials, but instead they are letting us buy more of it from the textbook companies. The problem is that the textbook companies are charging us out the ass for books we never open, and the school is requiring us to access data that is overpriced! This is only a drop in the bucket of the problem of high student debt, but it is a contributor nonetheless.

It would seem that capitolism has a stranglehold on our higher educations, and it won't let go.