JR Pass or other tickets? Tokyo<>Kyoto

A friend of mine will be spending a month in Tokyo starting August 30th. She's a part of an architecture school project and she probably won't be leaving the city much. Her group is scheduled to have one trip to Kyoto and they were told to get the one week JR pass for this purpose.

I checked and the JRPass is about 28000 yen and a trip from Tokyo to Kyoto is about 13000 by shinkansen. I couldn't find how much a return ticket is, if such an option even exists (or if you just buy 2 one way tickets).

My friend is pressed for money and would like to find the cheapest way possible to get there, maybe there's something I overlooked?

Thanks in advance

Indeed, a round trip costs twice the one way trip. The cheapest way of travel is by overnight bus. All options are explained on the following page:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2363.html