The cost of tuition increases yearly at the University of Maryland, as it has in the majority of State-funded Universities. However, according to Pease, a major matter of concern isn't only the rising cost of tuition, but the increasingly prohibitive hidden costs of the textbooks and course materials for class. Often newer editions of textbooks that are not fundamentally different from past editions are pressed upon the faculty for use in the next teaching period.
The text highlights the issue of rising tuition costs at the University of Maryland, along with the growing expense of textbooks and course materials for students. The author emphasizes that newer editions are often mandated by faculty even if they don't offer substantial changes from previous versions.