Where Can I Find Affordable College Textbooks?

For anyone deciding to attend college, whether it be a culinary arts college, career college or four year university, one of the most expensive items to purchase are college books.  There is no way around it.  These are a must have on your list of expenses.

However, with that being said, there are ways that you can find affordable textbooks.  One way is to watch in the local college papers for textbooks that are advertised.  You can look on Craigslist, Ebay, Bonanza, local newspapers and in online newspapers.  Occasionally papers like the Pennysaver also have cheap textbooks listed.  

There are companies who seek out sources for the least expensive college textbooks and specialize in leading you to the purchase and sale of affordable college textbooks.  The number one site online is "Affordabook.com".  You will want to put them on your list when trying to buy or sell your used college books.  That way others can benefit from what you have and you can make some money toward purchasing the books you need. 

It is really important though that you check which edition is being sold as it does seem like the colleges like to change textbooks often. With competition from the internet, it's no wonder.  Text books can cost hundreds of dollars per book and the only way these companies can make money is to change the editions.  Legitimate reasons would be that information that is available in certain subjects can change frequently as well.  It may be old fashioned, but notepads, computers, Kindles and the like can never replace the smell and feel of a super heavy duty college book.

Best Online Colleges for 2011

When starting your search for the best culinary arts colleges or any of the top online colleges, it is important to consider a number of factors.  For example, after deciding on your major, the next thing that probably comes to mind is the cost, then the location, and then the quality of the school or college compared to the cost.  

How do you find out this information?  The first step would be to do a search on the specific type of career college you want to attend.  In this case, if you've chosen culinary arts colleges then you will go to google and type in "culinary arts colleges".  You will see hundreds of colleges all across the country and you won't have time to go through all of them.  The next logical step is to type in "culinary arts colleges pennsylvania" (or whatever state you think you would like to attend college in.)  This will narrow it down even further.  You can go on to choose more states individually if you don't find any interesting schools you'd like to attend. 

Once you've narrowed your search down to a few colleges, then you visit their websites to see what they have to offer.  Jot down those of interest and then contact those schools through their online contact forms or by phone and speak with an admissions counselor.

Another way to identify the best online colleges is to visit sites who have already used a process to weed out the most undesirable schools.  For example, there is a new website called Degreejungle who just published a ranking of the top 64 online colleges in the United States for 2011. This is an in-depth, objective ranking and one of the best ever of online universities. You can learn more about these rankings at:  http://www.degreejungle.com/rankings/best-online-colleges 
They've made it easy and convenient for you to apply to a variety of schools directly linking to their site.  You simply click on the links provided and fill in the information as requested.  If you are interested in culinary arts specifically, all you have to do is send an inquiry to these schools to find out where their culinary arts classes are held.  Doing your search this way could save you some additional time and get you started contacting schools more quickly.  

Finding the best online colleges is not hard when you have a plan in mind and follow it.  Do the research up front to get the best results, after all, this is a lifetime investment.