One of my relatives attends a public university that rents textbooks to students. At the end of the year they're returned. If a new edition comes out, the unive

One of my relatives attends a public university that rents textbooks to students. At the end of the year they're returned. If a new edition comes out, the university eats the cost. As I understand it, some of the books are available as downloads, and in other cases teachers accept the use of old editions.