In a recent study conducted, the rate of individuals attending college has increased. This increase in student numbers comes at a time when the country is described as being in recession. With job losses, business closures and lack of job availability, many people are returning to school. This return to class has a cost. College tuition rates have increased in recent years. In my home state of Kentucky, it seems that the two major universities have asked to raise tuition every two years. When the cost of attending college increases, so do the tools needed to attend college. Books are one of the most expensive tools. Last year, I enrolled my son in college. When calculating the books for his classes, we quickly learned that the cost of his books and the cost of my books were almost a month's salary. My family quickly realized that if we wanted to not only go to college but also have the necessary tools, we needed to consider alternatives to buying books. I did some research and quickly discovered that technology had once again come to our rescue. I found a company called Chegg which is an online book rental company. This company offers students an alternative to purchasing books by renting them for part of the price. According to their article in CrunchBase titled "Chegg edit," the company started at the University of Iowa in 2005 as a "hyper-local" classifieds directory. It was not until 2007 that the company launched its textbook rental service. When looking at the business from an information systems perspective, I would say it ranks among the creative ideas of the century. You go online, type in your order and it's processed within a few days. Over the next part of this article we will look at......middle of the article......planting a tree at every tenancy. Works Cited Associated Press. Barnes and Noble Starts Textbook Rentals.” San Jose Mercury News. 1-11-10http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_14165487?source=rss.Crain, Marilyn. Nonfiction Book Reviewer. Is it time to rent a book? April 28. http://www.examiner.com/x-7711-NonFiction-Books-Examiner.7/27/10CrunchBase. Chegg edit. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/chegg.7/27/10Forbes Insight. Business meetings The case for face-to-face meetings. Forbes 2009. King, Peter. A textbook case of book rental. The Wall Street Journal. April 23, 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124045232885846381.html.7/27/10Schmit, Julie. Rashid, CEO of Chegg, applies the concept of Netflix to textbooks. January 2009.http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/entre/2009-01-11-chegg-rashid_N.htm.