my husband is going to school right now to get his undergraduate degree, then he wants to move on to a phd. we get help from the government with tuition. we also get the gi bill fo rhim derving in the military and iraq. besides all that he is getting his listings of books for the summer and next fall. now granted books are exspensive, but for a biochemistry book he needs. they want 191 new and 163 used. thats rediculous. after the thousands that get shelled out for tuition to cough up that much for one book. all i have to say is thank goodness for independant sellers on ebay, amazon and alibris. i found it new for 113 which is a great deal. i honestly think though that that may be a reason people drop out of college. we need 5-6 more chemistry books for next semester. none of them are going to be under 100 bucks. so you figure if you take 9 or ten classes your paying $5000 or more a semester plus  over a $1000 in books. 
no wonder people aren’t spending alot of money right now. they are in a butt load of debt from trying to get a good education. so they save to pay it off. it’s crazy