Textbooks can be one of the biggest expenses of a college education. Clark upsets college professors whenever he picks on them for requiring students to use the newest edition of a book -- instead of allowing students to purchase older used versions.
Some professors have even accused the consumer champ of trying to stifle education!
Meanwhile, certain schools take kickbacks from book publishers for mandating that students use custom-edition textbooks. The production runs on these custom texts are small enough to be targeted for specific university courses.
These "boutique" books -- which may excise certain material or add a professor's published papers -- come embossed with a warning that it's illegal to sell back as a used book. The campus book stores are, of course, complicit because they refuse to buy these books from students.
So there are a lot of factors conspiring against students who are on a budget.
But what if you could rent your textbooks?
Chegg.com offers just that opportunity. Chegg claims to have saved students $41 million to date. (
Editor's note: This figure is accurate as of July 28, 2009.) Give it a try this fall semester.
