I would like to know if there are any inexpensive ways others have studied for the exam. I work at a university and the books you have suggested are not available at the library. I also looked on Amazon and they were too expensive. I truly need a study guide or some material I can look at that may help me. Thank you.

If you work for a university, you might first check to see if your library would order the books.

Is the university supporting your certification pursuit? If so, ask your boss if they would allow you to order some books at company expense.

Bear in mind, you don't necessarily need to use the exact books. If the university library won't order them for you, check to see what similar books they already have in stock (i.e. a college level management 101 book should be suitable, even if it is written by a different author). Choose a college level text book from each of the major areas (communication, organizational development, information technology, accounting, records management, etc.).

Another option is to post here in the certification section asking if any past test takers would like to sell their relatively recent materials. Just be careful you don't got older than 2-3 years on the publication dates.

Another option is to rent, as Barbara mentioned.

Another option is to borrow, one at a time, via interlibrary loan through your public or university library (one at a time because you can only have them a few weeks at a time).

An additional option is to convince someone else to sit for the exam and purchase the materials together and share them.

Finally, research each domain performance objective on the internet and use online research to drive your studying.

There are many ways to reduce the expense of study materials. Put on your creativity thinking cap.