Material Detail

When we talk about the cost of textbooks at Oregon’s community colleges, how much money are we really talking about? In 2015, 2017, and 2019, Open Oregon Educational Resources gathered locally relevant cost data that could be compared across institutions and over time. The results show that over the four years that Oregon has invested statewide funding in textbook affordability, our community colleges have succeeded in reducing the cost of course materials for transfer degrees.

Key takeaways:

• Oregon’s statewide investment in textbook affordability has paid off in lower costs to students at almost every community college.
• Students will have unpredictable experiences of cost for the same curriculum depending on the flexibility of their schedules.
• As we gain evidence that there are viable models to lower costs for students without compromising on quality, colleges will have to reconsider the role of the campus store.

Key findings:

• The average materials cost for the two-year Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (AAOT) degree in 2019 is $1,492.15, an 18% drop since 2017 and a 30% drop since 2015.
• The 112,462 students in the 10 highest-enrolled courses statewide saved over $1M compared to materials costs in 2017.
• The lowest-cost pathway through the AAOT degree requirements averages $381.24 in course material costs for a two-year degree.

This will delete the comment from the database. This operation is not reversible. Are you sure you want to do it?

Thank you for reporting a broken "Go to Material" link in MERLOT to help us maintain a collection of valuable learning materials.

If you feel this material is inappropriate for the MERLOT Collection, please click SEND REPORT, and the MERLOT Team will investigate. Thank you!

You are being taken to the material on another site. This will open a new window.

Do not show me this again