Missouri college takes textbooks online

With college textbook prices soaring right alongside other college expenses, the average college student now spends upwards of $1,000 per year on textbooks.

One courageous college is innovating to cut the cost of textbooks and save trees: At Northwest Missouri State, 500 students are participating in a digital textbook pilot program. By eliminating the expenses associated with traditional textbooks, colleges can help their students save 50% on their textbook bills with e-Books. And the e-books might actually be better than the traditional tomes. According to NPR, "Some e-textbooks are just on-screen versions of the bound copies. But the newest books are interactive - you can search, mark pages, highlight, and cut and paste passages. You can share notes in a kind of social network with the rest of your class - or even click on a video."