What does that mean that you are allocated money? Does that mean they that you have a scholarship that pays for some of your textbooks? That would be great! I don't get any help for my books, but they are tax deductible if you save the receipts.

Last quarter I paid over $1000 for books, and another $180 for lab fees, $50 for lab supplies, and $380 for the required test prep program. Even though I am taking more credits this quarter, my textbook bill was only $174! I buy all my books on either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, and if the used version is significantly cheaper, I get that. I got a $77 book this quarter for $9 used! I also got an $80 book for $50 used, a $55 book for $30 used, and an $85 book for $46. I paid $50 for a used book that the professor later removed from her list, and I can't return it. Why don't the professors get their act together on stuff like this?

They also have a deal on Amazon where if you are student, you can sign up for Amazon Prime for free for one year. This gives you free 2-day shipping on all your purchases.

To get the best dollar back on your books when you're done with them, sell them through Amazon or a similar online site. I need to keep almost all of mine from last quarter to help me study for the licensing exam next year. What I hate is how the publisher publishes a new edition every 2 years, when not much has changed at all. Then the professor requires the brand new version and students won't buy the older version that you are trying to sell.

(JD), many programs forbid it. When I was in grad school, it was strictly forbidden to have an outside job the entire time. Now I am back in school, and it is forbidden for the first 4 quarters (the most intense), and then after that you are allowed to work part time (or fulltime if you can find a job that fits around your school courses and clinicals).

My own daughter is a college student and she looked all last year in her college town and could never find a job. Many of the students do work-study jobs, but my daughter does not qualify for that. Two of her roommates had to quit school and go back home because they could not find jobs. Just got a note from her university last week saying tuition was increasing 7.5%. Last year (when I was still working), my university raised tuition 14%. And then all these unexpected costs pop up in my life. I just added my 16 yo daughter to my auto insurance policy and the cost is $1500!! Both I and my college age daughter have taken out loans to finance our schooling. I don't know anyone in my program who hasn't. They don't let us work, so what else are we to do?