If You Think Custom Textbooks Are Good For Students, Think Again

by Jed Davis Textbooks costs, which have far outpaced the cost of inflation in the previous decade, are a longstanding problem among college students. The textbook industry has developed increasingly sophisticated ways to extract profit from their products. The result is a new problem for students, who are becoming more incensed due to the increased “customization” of textbooks that are practically impossible to rent or resell. Some professors are requiring that students use custom textbooks put together by the professor themselves. Well-known textbook publishers are allowing professors the option to select various chapters from a larger textbook. Those books are then […]