Helping students afford course materials

Faculty play an important role in reducing what students pay for textbooks and instructional materials. These eight steps outline practical ways to make a difference.

1. Evaluate textbook and instructional material requirements

In some cases, OERs may be comparable alternatives to commercially-produced textbook and instructional materials. To learn more about OER alternatives for your discipline, visit the Open Access Textbook Repository Database.

2. OERs Can Lower Costs

OERs can be comparable alternatives to commercially-produced materials at no cost to students. To explore OER options in your discipline, visit the Open Access Textbook Repository Database.

3. No-Cost Libraries Materials for Your Students

The USF Libraries’ TAP team has created a database that allows faculty to search for low-to-no cost alternatives to textbooks. Using the Ebooks for the Classroom+ database (with over 400,000 titles in all disciplines), faculty can search for and select titles for course adoption. If you select a title that is not currently part of our collection, the USF Libraries will purchase the title if possible and make it available at no cost to your students.

4. Bundles May Be More Costly

Avoid unnecessary bundling when possible. Florida Statutes Section 1004.085 7(b) requires faculty to confirm that they will use everything included in a bundle. One caveat: when it is less expensive to purchase a bundle than it is to purchase items individually, this may justify requiring the bundle.

5. Format Impacts Cost

Cost calculations are based on the required format(s), so always limit requirements to the least expensive format of textbooks and instructional materials. If students have a preference for a different format, they can always purchase the alternative should they choose.

6. Recommended Titles Increases Cost

Avoid submitting “Recommended” titles to the bookstore. Compliance with Florida Statutes Section 1004.085 and BOG regulations requires us to consider those costs as well as the required materials. Feel free to use your syllabus to convey additional options to your students.

7. Coordination Reduces Cost Variance

Whenever possible coordinate selection of required textbooks and instructional materials across multiple sections of the same course.

8. Course Packs Increase Cost