But the cost of textbooks, now that is an extra special gripe for students - and their teachers.

One professor, Utah Valley State College's Ron Hammond, got so fed up that he's eliminated textbooks from his sociology courses altogether.

"I think it's immoral because of the cost of it," Hammond told the Daiy Herald newspaper.

The Government Accountability Office says textbook prices have risen at double the rate of inflation for the last two decades, coming in slightly behind tuition increases. The average first-time, full-time student at a public four-year school spent nearly $900 on books and supplies in 2004.

The Daily Herald reports today that Hammond has gotten rid of all the books textbook companies had given him.

He also re-did all of his courses, basing his tests and quizzes on the new material, writing his own questions because he no longer has access to banks of questions that come with the book.