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Options for high textbook costs

UW campuses are again swarming with students, many of whom are feeling the pinch of textbook prices. There are ways students and administrators are trying to ease the financial burden a little.

At the UW-Madison, students are holding a â??book swapâ?. They man a table covered with laptops, scraps of paper, and tall stacks of books.

The UW system says on average, college students shell out $900 a year on books. UW-Madison sophomore Jonah Zinn says the book swap lets students sell books for about 30% more than what theyâ??d get from the campus bookstore, and buy them for 35% less than the retail price, which saves them $300 to $400. (First item.)