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. (Contains 9 figures, 5 tables and 5 footnotes.)