I recall back at the turn of the century, I genuinely think none of my classes had a required textbook. I know that some did recommend books that could be used

I recall back at the turn of the century, I genuinely think none of my classes had a required textbook. I know that some did recommend books that could be used for extra depth, but that's all they were. Everything in the exam would have been explained by the professor in their own words and drawing, at the front. I've still got the set of notes from some of them; no textbooks involved. Question sets were photocopied bits of paper. This was in the UK; I can't speak for how common this system is in the UK, but it sure feels like some people are getting massively ripped off. Clue's in the title, surely; you're a professor? Profess things :) A few years ago, I did a Masters in Maths in my evenings and weekends, for the fun of it, and that was to a large extent "get this textbook, make sure you can answer all these question, see you in nine months for the exam" with a few phone calls and weekends face-to-face thrown in. Whole thing cost a few thousand pounds. If you're just learning from the books, the actual cost of the education is so much smaller.