OER & ZTC

ZTC - "Zero Textbook Cost;" students are not required to pay any textbook or instructional material costs. Zero textbook cost materials may include open educational resources, library-provided resources, no course materials, departmental loans, or other resources that are entirely free to the students.

LTC - "Low Textbook Cost;" the total cost of all instructional materials for a single course, not by credit hour, is $20 or under.

OER - "Open Educational Resources;" high-quality teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits free use and repurposing my others. OER may include, but are not limited to, openly-licensed and open source textbooks, slide presentations, interactive content, simulations, homework systems, lectures, videos, exams, software, images, diagrams, modules, websites, and other publisher- or instructor-created educational materials.

(Note: These definitions come from the CCHE's Guidelines for informing students of OER or low-cost materials at course registration, adopted October 16, 2025.)

The 5 Rs of OER point out the different activities users are permitted to do with OER:

1. Retain - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content
2. Reuse - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways
3. Revise - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself
4. Remix - the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new
5. Redistribute -  the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others

(Source: Wiley, David. "Defining the 'Open' in Open Content and Open Educational Resources." Open Content blog, 2014. http://opencontent.org/ definition/)

Image Source: Fort Hays State University, https://www.fhsu.edu/oer/

Textbook and classroom material costs have risen dramatically in recent years, creating a financial burden to students, instructors, and institutions everywhere.

• Textbook costs have increased by 1,401% over the last 50 years, 2.8 times the rate of inflation.¹
• The average undergraduate students pays between $339-$600 for books and supplies in one academic year.²

• High textbook costs have resulted in:²

  • 66% of students not purchasing course materials

  • 20% of students who fail college courses are due to the cost of textbooks & class materials

  • 25% of students working extra hours to pay for course materials

  • 11% of students not eating meals due to materials costs

  • 17% of students skip purchasing access codes needed to complete homework³

Sources:

1. Winstead, S. (2024). "Textbook prices have increased by 1401% over last 50 years." My eLearning World.
2. Hanson, M. (2023). "Average cost of college textbooks." Education Data Initiative.'
3. Welding, L. (2023). "Average cost of college textbooks: Full statistics." Best Colleges.