Abstract Abstract We present an analysis of several characteristics of examples in 10 college algebra textbooks used in community colleges or 4-year institutions. We analyzed the examples along four dimensions: cognitive demand, the responses expected, the use of representations, and the strategies available for verifying the correctness of the solutions. We found that textbooks, independent of the type of institution in which they are used, present examples that have low cognitive demands, expect single numeric answers, emphasize symbolic and numerical representations, and give very few strategies for verifying correctness of the solutions. We discuss the implications of these findings for teaching and further research. Keywords: College algebracommunity collegestextbook analysisopportunity to learn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been funded in part by the National Science Foundation through award DRL 0745474 to Vilma Mesa. Opinions are those of the authors. Special thanks to the Teaching Mathematics in Community Colleges research group at the University of Michigan. Portions of this work have been presented at the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, an affiliate of the American Mathematical Associate of Two-Year Colleges, Muskegon, MI, 2010; the 14th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, Portland, OR, 2011; and the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, 2011.