Recently, two of the top three college textbook publishers announced plans to get into the textbook rental business. On its face this seems like a good deal for college students, but the real question is whether this heralds a beginning of cheaper textbook prices or is just another pricing stunt from an industry famous for stunting.

For years, the college textbook publisher business model has been consistent. Most of the revenues the publisher gets for a new edition comes in the first semester. Over the remaining life of that edition, competition and used books chew up an increasing amount of the market share and reduce the publisher revenues to a trickle. This is why publishers charge high prices for the books so they can be sure to recoup their expenses. From a student’s perspective, the average cost of that textbook is similar — almost all copies that first semester cost full retail price, with cheaper used books making up more of the volume in subsequent semesters. Used book dealers make their money after the first semester assuming they bet correctly on the books still being in demand. (Meaning, they buy back books they think will be in need again, and decline to buy back books that won't be used and longer.)

(See how the money gets divided in the secret behind textbook costs.)

In a textbook rental scenario, things change for everyone:

• Publishers get less money that first semester (reflecting the 40-70% of retail price floated by Cengage), but continue to get similar revenue levels in subsequent semesters because there are few if any used books. Their revenue curve, which before was extremely front-loaded, is now more level. In fact, the ongoing revenue potential could in some cases extend the hyper-accelerated revision cycle leaving the same edition in play for longer (further raising the profitability of that edition.) Sounds like a win for the publisher.
• Students get to spend less that first semester for their textbook, but in subsequent semesters can end up paying more since there are no more cheap used books. (This is especially true in cases where the student wants to keep the textbook, since in the absence of used books they are forced to purchase at full price.) Sounds like a loss for the student unless they’re in that first semester.
• Used book dealers really get screwed on this one, since their supply and market both dry up entirely. A resounding LOSS for them.

For years the used book market has been kicking the publishers' asses, revenue-wise. For a while they had some success with bundling the textbook with workbooks or CDs/DVDs, knowing that bookstores wouldn’t buy those back and forcing them to replenish their stocks from the publisher (at full price). Now, with rentals, it appears that they’ve hit on another tactic that could solve their problem.

How about the college student’s problem of higher textbook costs, though? It doesn’t seem like their expenses are getting a reduction… #FAIL

Hi,

 I have this problem that I am not able to solve because I do not know anything about mixtures.

  A car's radiotor contains 12 L of antifreeze at 25% concentration. How many liters must be drained and then replaced by pure antifreeze to bring the concentration to 50%?

 The answer is 4L but the book did not provide workings. Please show me the workings.

Thank you.

Can someone explain in detail the following formula?

(Gradient)*E=0 (without source or current)

Thanks to your votes for nominations and first round of voting, College-Cram is a finalist for this year's awards in the "How To" category. Mashable recognizes social networking websites in various categories in its annual awards competition. College-Cram is nominated as "How-To" since Mashable doesn't feature a "social learning" category (yet). In fact, College-Cram.com is the only social learning site in the Open Web Awards competition this year, and it will take the help of students on campuses around the world to put them over the top in the final round of voting.

Social learning is a mashup of social networking and educational resources. Many websites offer tools or frameworks that help students organize themselves, but a true social learning site also has actual academic help for students trying to pass their courses. College-Cram is a true social learning site. Rudy Lopes, (VP of Operations) said “Maybe if we win, next year they will add a social learning category. That would be a good thing.”

You can vote once per day for each email address you have. When you submit your vote you receive an emailed confirmation link to complete the vote. College-Cram.com made it easy to vote by pre-filling the form to the left - just add your email address and click submit.

If you are concerned about giving out your email addresses (and you should be), we voted last year and heard nary a peep back all year. This is administered by PollDaddy – the same folks who run polls for us from time to time. We trust them or we wouldn’t be asking you to participate.”

As they say, “Vote early and vote often!” Voting runs through December 14, 2008.

The presidential election is over, but the Mashable 2nd Annual Open Web Awards voting is just starting. This is your chance to tell the world how you feel about College-Cram.com.

College-Cram.com has been nominated for Mashable’s Open Web awards. Our nomination is in the "How To" category. You can vote once per day for each email address you have – and I have several. They send you a confirmation link to complete the vote.

We made it easy to vote by pre-filling the form for you - just add your email address and submit the form below.

(Note: Voting is closed for this award.)

Mashable recognizes social websites in various categories each year. College-Cram is a social learning site - mashup of social networking and educational resources. (We nominated ourselves as "How-To" since they don't feature a "social learning" category.)

If you are concerned about giving out your email addresses (and you should be), I voted last year and heard nary a peep back all year. This is administered by PollDaddy – the same folks who run polls for us from time to time. We trust them or we wouldn’t be asking you to participate.

Thanks for your help. Vote early and vote often! Voting runs until December 15, 2008.

Mashable.com is hosting the 2nd annual Open Web Awards, and we'd like to see College-Cram.com nominated for the Niche Social Networking category. Go ahead and vote here to help us make the cut!

(BTW, there is also the How-To category we could qualify for, so please vote for that one too!)

Mashable Open Web Awards

Increasingly, students are turning to distance learning to supplement or replace their "real world" college education. Lower commuting costs and living expenses can influence this, but often it's just a better fit with busy schedules. Besides, the perception of a degree from an online institution is less of a problem than it used to be.

With so much of a distance learning experience being web-based, it's only natural for distance learners to supplement the "official" textbook with other online learning resources. That's why many distance learning students have turned to College-Cram.com to help them prepare for tests. With hundreds of resources available for Accounting, Algebra, and Chemistry a student can usually find the help they need.

Social learning also makes College-Cram helpful for online study. Each learning community boasts a blog,with individual Cramlets covering key concepts in each chapter. Don't quite understand a topic? Post a comment and get help from others, or pitch in yourself to help out another student. This educational collective makes distance learning easier for all.

With ready access to learning resources, students can't help but find it easier to get better grades in less time.

A new semester has started, but the same old story continues. Textbooks still cost too much, and most cost even more than last year. The number of major textbook publishers has gotten lower, meaning an increasingly smaller hegemony of publishers is dictating what we'll use and how much we'll pay.

On the bright side, many classes across the country are looking to more open-sourced solutions. Professor notes, collections of readings, and online resources (like those we feature here at www.College-Cram.com) are taking the place of traditional textbooks in more and more classrooms. Keep up the good work, everyone!

P.S. Here's a shout out to the latest websites that are finding our resources valuable to their visitors, such as SkyLine High, and those incorporating us into their WebCT/Blackboard courses (like the accounting classes at University of Houston and Chippewa Valley Technical College).

Dear Professor Cram:

A waterskier is being pulled at a constant velocity of 15.8m/s. The drag force on the boat is 280N.  What is the foce applied to the boat by the propellor?

I don't even know where to start with this one. help please.

 Dear Professor Cram

On mars, the acceleration due to gravity is 3.71m/s2. What would a rock's velocity be 0.5 sec. after you dropped it on mars?

What is the formula for this problem