College Life is Tough, Why Are Colleges Making it Harder?

If you've been in college or are in college now, you know the hardships of juggling money between tuition, room and board, and several other commodities. However, the person who should be helping you the most, which is your own alma-mater whichever one it may be, is actually the one who is shaking out your wallet for every last penny. It would be a fair assumption that the students attending these fine universities all around the United States would be educated enough to realize that the very own colleges are taking advantage of them. Actually, very few seem to notice what is really going on behind the scenes. The most blatant and obvious source of these offenses can be found in the college book stores that litter every college from the east to west coast.

The prime targets for these stores are the incoming freshmen who have absolutely no idea what to do when it comes to picking up books for classes. As soon as they arrive for their "orientation" to the college the tour guides shuttle them around the campus giving them a quick look around at the surrounding and eventually telling them to pick up their books at the local college bookstore. Telling them how convenient it is to have a store right on campus. Sure, they may even offer the advice that, "You could buy your books online, but they might not get in on time, or be the right edition." However, this is where the deceit and pure capitalistic gain for the college begins to rear its ugly head.

One of the most common misconceptions is that an older edition of a book is worthless, and cannot be used for a class. This is one of the most barefaced lies they tell ALL the incoming freshmen. The only real differences between editions are approximately 20 pages of added information, with the sample problems in the book are re-arranged or changed. Why, is there so little change yet a dire need to update to the new edition? That answer is simple. The college's need revenue and textbooks are a goldmine to any institution. However, capitalism is not a bad thing. Although, where does the line between fair business and outrageous looting start?