This may sound cliché but, education really is an important principle. This is the primary reason why countries  organize several yearly programs aiming to enhance their educational systems. These programs usually come in the form of scholarships and basic academic seminars and trainings.

Although such yearly programs are good investments to boost the waining condition of education in the world, they are not enough. The rising prices of material commodities in the market keeps the system from becoming completely stable and sufficient. It is important to note that education relies on a certain material commodity to be able to “function” fully – textbooks.

Although the textbooks market does not operate according to the normal consumer market economic principles (the end consumers [students] do not select the product, and people choosing the product [faculty] do not purchase the product), the “economy of prices” still affects textbook prices, most especially the ones with “quality.” Many scholars view this phenomenon as the fruit of the lack of competition in the textbook market, hence the birth of the so called “Broken Market.”

The “Broken Market” is not really an easy thing to deal with, since the problem actually involves a primary economic variable, which is competition. In order to prevent it from worsening, scholars device many ways  to somehow address the deplorable condition, an example of which is, textbook rentals.

According to Nicole Allen, a member of The Student PIRG (Public Interest Research Group), textbook rentals are the “best short-term” ways to lower textbook costs. Their research found out that students using textbooks under rental services pay for as low as $130 - $240 dollars per year, unlike students purchasing new textbooks who pay an average of $800 - $900 each year.

According to the PIRG data, more than 20 schools in the United States are already offering textbook rental programs, including The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Southern Illinois University.