Not to mention the likes of McGraw-Hill and other textbook makers deciding that since students have to go to school, they're free to charge said students whatev

Not to mention the likes of McGraw-Hill and other textbook makers deciding that since students have to go to school, they're free to charge said students whatever they want. Those companies are for-profit and publicly traded, meaning they have to, by law, increase profits every quarter. Reprinting a new edition every year with minimal changes but a nice $50 price increase (on top of the book already costing several hundred) is a nice way to do that. Sick bastards, the lot of them.