What do college students believe is a reasonable cost for class materials? How does the cost of the materials affect them? What recommendations do they have for improving textbook affordability? We will hear from leading researchers what 10,000 public college students in Washington state and 22,000 public college and university students in Florida had to say about the impact of textbook costs on their education. Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and the Washington Community & Technical Colleges Student Association (WACTCSA) partnered in 2017 to conduct a survey to: gauge students’ threshold of what is considered low cost for course materials explore the influence of cost of course materials on students’ academic practices document students’ recommendations for strategies to improve the affordability of course materials. The Florida Virtual Campus has conducted three surveys since 2010 on the impact textbook costs are having on higher education affordability, success and completion at their public institutions. Key findings include: the high cost of textbooks is negatively impacting student access, success, and completion college students are paying more than university students for textbooks and other course materials financial aid covers fewer textbook costs in 2016 than in 2012. When: Wednesday, Feb 21st 11am PT/ 2pm ET Featured Speakers: Boyoung Chae, PhD, Policy Associate of eLearning and Open Education at the Washington State Board for Community & Technical Colleges (SBCTC). Robin Donaldson, PhD, Director Instructional Research and Membership, Florida Virtual Campus

1. College Textbook Affordability:
Student Survey Findings
Feb 21, 2018, 11:00 am PST
Welcome to

2. Agenda
• Introductions
• CCCOER Overview
• Florida Research
• Washington State Research
• Q & A
Image Front Page Attribution:
Pixabay.com

3. Robin Donaldson, PhD
Director, Instructional Research
and Member Services
Florida Virtual Campus
Moderator: Regina Gong
OER Project Manager, Lansing Community College
VP for Professional Development, CCCOER
Presenters
Boyoung Chae, PhD
eLearning & Open
Education Policy Associate
Washington State Board of
Community & Technical
Colleges
Sarah Delaney
Research Analyst
Washington State Board
for Community and
Technical Colleges

4. Open Education Week
openeducationweek.org
Create awareness on your campus
Showcase to a global audience
OER adoption showcase webinars, Wed, March 7.

5. • Expand awareness & access to high-
quality OER
• Support faculty choice & development
• Improve student success
CCCOER Mission

6. Membership 2018 Map
http://cccoer.org/Member
65 CCCOER-OEC Members, 11 Systemwide Memberships, 28 U.S. States
New Members February 2018
1. Butte College, CA
2. Central Maine Community College
3. Lakeshore Technical College, WI
4. Mount Waschusett, MA
5. Raritan Valley Community College, NJ

7. Open Education Global Conference
April 24-26

8. Textbook Affordability Impact
on Students

9. Robin Donaldson, PhD
Director, Instructional Research and
Member Services
Florida Student Surveys

10. TEXTBOOK COSTS
• Traditionally viewed as a financial challenge; costs.
• Survey of more than 22,000 Florida college students
• Findings indicates that the cost of textbooks & materials also
negatively impacts academic success.
• Result is a double whammy of failure and debt

11. TEXTBOOK SURVEY BACKGROUND
• Snapshot of current state of textbook and materials costs
• 2010, 2012, and 2016. 2018 scheduled.
• 2016 survey extended focus to also examine cost of instructional
materials
• 2018 added cost in Fall 2017 & Spring 2018, number of courses, and
courses requiring textbooks or instructional materials

12. Purpose
• Amount students spent on textbooks during the Spring 2016
semester
• Frequency purchased textbooks are not used
• Effects and actions taken to address textbook costs
• Changes over time in student responses

13. Methodology
• Participants
– 22,906
– 13537 universities, 10327 college, and 968 were enrolled in both a university and
a college
– Florida PolyTech
– University Provosts and College Chief Academic Officers
• Questionnaire
– 11 questions
– HB 7019 Education Access and Affordability

14. Key Finding: Textbook Costs
C
53%
Spent over $300
C
17.9%
Spent over $400

15. Spending on Course Materials
77%
Spent
$200 or less
16%
Spent
$201 - $400
6%
Spent $401 or more
*.6% other

16. Key Finding: At the higher end, textbook costs tend to be higher for
College students
Of the students surveyed, 56.3% of College students spent $301 or more on textbooks, while only 50.5% of University
students spent $301 or more.

17. Key Finding: At the higher end, materials costs tend to be higher for
College students
Twelve percent of college students reported spending $301 or more on course materials compared to 9.8% of University
students.
University College

18. Key Finding: Textbooks Purchased, Not Used
2012 2016

19. Key Finding: Less Financial Aid Coverage of Textbook Costs than in
2012
Of the students who received financial aid, 20.6% reported that financial aid covered the total cost of their textbooks, 50%
covered some of their textbook costs, and 29.2% reported that financial aid covered no portion of their textbooks.

20. Key Finding: Impact of Textbook Costs
Students reported that high cost of textbooks impacted learning and academic choices in a variety of ways (multiple items
could be selected).

21. Key Finding: Impact of Textbook Costs
And, since 2012, the negative impact has increased.

22. Key Finding: Actions to Reduce Costs
At 64%, the cost saving measure most commonly used was purchasing books elsewhere than campus bookstore; almost 50%
reported buying used copies and renting textbooks.

23. TEXTBOOK & INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COSTS SHOULD
NOT BE A BARRIER TO EDUCATION
• Students who don’t complete college are over 50 % more likely than
graduates to cite textbook costs as a major financial barrier. (Public
Agenda)
• More research needed to assess whether students using OER take a
heavier semester credit loads, success rates, and time to graduation

24. Washington State Student Survey
Boyoung Chae
Open Education
Policy Associate
Sarah Delaney
Research Analyst

25. Affordable Cost for Class Materials
10,000 Washington College Students Have Spoken

26. Institute the OER code
OER code added to the SBCTC Coding Manual to identify courses that use OER.
May 2016
Refine the OER code
Survey faculty and administrators to clarify the interpretation of the OER code and to create
implementation guidelines. Findings also indicated the need for another code to tag low-cost courses.
November
2016
Legislation
Legislation passed requiring OER information to be available at the time of registration (E2SHB 1375 and
RCW 28B.50.789).
March
2017
Identify low-cost threshold for the low-cost code
Survey students to identify cost threshold for the instructional materials.
December
2017
Refine the low-cost code
Survey faculty and administrators to clarify implementation guidelines to be added to the SBCTC coding
manual.
March
2018
Background

27. A survey of Washington state community &
technical college students was conducted to:
• Gauge the student threshold of what is considered low cost
for course materials
• Explore the influence of course materials costs on student
enrollment decisions
• Identify student recommendations to improve the
affordability of course materials

28. Student-led distribution process
Stage 1 SBCTC and WACTCSA partnered in designing and planning the survey.
Stage 2
Survey invitation sent to all CUSP members and WACTCSA
leadership. These groups connected with the student association at
their campuses.
Stage 3
WACTCSA leadership distributed the survey on campus via various
methods. One method posted volunteers in common areas with
iPads to allow completion of the survey in the moment.
Stage 4 Early success spurred interest and multiple system
groups volunteered to distribute the survey.

29. Study participation
# of Reponses
10,050
Participants
Students enrolled in
Washington
Community &
Technical Colleges
Timeline
September 29, 2017
to
December 27, 2017

30. Key finding 1
When asked how much students feel is reasonable to pay for ALL
required instructional materials for a single (5 credit), quarter-
long class,
The most popular choice was, $50 or less (35%), followed
by $30 (28%) and $40 (21%).

31. Key finding 2
When it comes to primary funding sources for purchasing course
materials,
Personal funds were the most frequently cited financial
source (40%), followed by financial aid (30%), and
financial support from parents or others (24%).

32. Key finding 3
When asked about the influence of course materials cost on their
decision to register for particular courses:
• 37% took fewer classes
• 38% did not register for a specific class
• 57% borrowed the required materials

33. However, students persevere…
80% indicated they seldom withdraw from a course due
to the cost of class materials.

34. Key finding 4
When it comes to having the required course materials:
• 44% have sometimes or often taken courses without
materials due to the cost
• Only 47% often have materials on the first day of the
class

35. Key finding 5
When it comes to student experience with financial aid:
• 48% stated that their financial aid money has never or
rarely arrived in time to purchase the required course
materials by the first day of class.

36. Key finding 6
When it comes to prioritizing ideas for improving affordability:
1. Develop more free or low-cost course materials
2. Display the actual costs of required course materials in advance
3. Create incentives for faculty members who provide free and low cost materials
4. Support student government in lobbying for policies around affordability
5. Advertise the courses that use free or low-cost materials
6. Provide trainings to teach everyone at college about free or low cost options
7. Get more students involved in establishing policies around course materials

37. Student recommendation 1
Instructional practice:
● Avoid costly homework websites
● Don’t require newest editions
● Clearly indicate required vs. optional materials
● Evaluate the usefulness of the required materials
● Actively use free and open resources
● Provide more digital access
● Display cost of required materials in the syllabus

38. Student recommendation 2
Course materials acquisition:
● Build a book trading system
● Create a subscription based rental system
● Provide favorable rates for buyback and rental
● Avoid materials that cannot be resold
● Provide longer checkout for library text reserves

39. Student recommendation 3
Financial aid:
● Allow purchase with pending financial aid
● Create a textbook fund for needy students

40. Student recommendation 4
Policy and business practice:
● Promote policies for open and affordable materials
● Encourage more student involvement
● Advertise the full cost of the course

41. The team...
WACTCSA
Washington
Community and
Technical College
Student Association
SBCTC
Washington State
Board for Community
and Technical
Colleges
WACTC
Washington
Association of
Community and
Technical Colleges
Commissions and
Councils

42. Notes
● This is only a summary of preliminary findings. A full report is will be
released in March 2018.
● Visit the Student Survey Dashboard for an interactive experience.
● Contact Boyoung Chae for survey related questions.
● Contact Sarah Delaney for dashboard issues.
This presentation is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. You are
free to distribute and share. Please give credit to SBCTC and WACTCSA.

43. Stay in the Loop
• Upcoming Conferences
– OE Global 2018, April 24-26
– OpenEd 2018, October 10-12
– See more at our website under “Get-Involved”
• Stay in touch thru Community Email
-- https://www.cccoer.org/community-email/
Image: pixabay.com
http://cccoer.org

44. Wed, March 7
9-2pm (PST), 12-5 (EST)
Featuring Community Colleges
from
AZ, CA, MI, TX, VA, and more ...
OER Adoption Showcases

45. Questions?
Contact Info:
Boyoung Chae: bchae@sbctc.edu
Sarah Delaney: sdelaney@sbctc.edu
Robin Donaldson:
RDonaldson@flvc.org
Regin Gong: gongr1@lcc.edu
Una Daly: unatdaly@oeconsortium.org
Thank you!