One cost-saving solution for college students which was not mentioned in the article is purchasing USED textbooks.
Unfortunately, the textbook companies have circumvented this by cranking out new editions, (cosmetically changed but incompatible), every couple of years.
The used textbook market has also been more or less ruined by the invention of textbook buyback. Bookstores and buyback companies offer students an easy way to get back a portion of what they paid, so students jump at the offer. The seller then gets to mark it up substantially for the next student. It used to be that you could score used textbooks directly from the previous student for a very modest price, but no more.
