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Milner Library

Affordable Course Materials

This guide provides faculty with information about affordable course materials and open educational resources.

Surveys of ISU Students and Faculty

The Textbook Affordability Committee conducted surveys in Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 of students and faculty, respectively. Takeaways are listed below.

Student Survey

In Spring 2019, ISU students were surveyed about how the cost of textbooks affect them. The observations from the survey below show the cost of textbooks affect ISU students in a number of ways.

Pie chart illustrating how much students spend on textbooks 35% of students spent $101-$300 on required textbooks and other course materials, 38% spent $301-$500.
Pie chart illustrating that 73% of students did not acquire a required textbook due to cost 73% of students did not acquire a required textbook or other course material due to cost.
Pie chart illustrating that 89% of students delayed purchasing a textbook or other course material due to cost 89% of students delayed purchasing a textbook or other course material due to cost.
Pie chart illustrating taht 69% of studetns purchased a required textbooks that they felt the instructor did not use 69% purchased a required textbook or course materials that they felt the instructor did not use.
Image of a dollar sign 61% were required to purchase an access code, at an average estimated cost of $121.31 per access code.
Bar chart illustrating the funding sources used to pay for textbooks Students use different funding sources to pay for textbooks and other course materials: 32% of students use credit cards, 13% use loans, 23% use work money, and 21% use money provided by family.
Bar chart illustrating the sources use to acquire textbooks Students use a variety of sources to acquire textbooks and other course materials: 18% use Barnes & Noble College, 22% use Alamo II, 28% use Amazon, 17% use Chegg, and 7% use Milner Library.

 

Faculty Survey

A Spring 2020 survey asked faculty what is important to them when selecting required textbooks.

Bar chart illustrating yes and no responses Less than 25% of faculty said they assign an access code/eTextbook.
Illustration of dollar sign About 27% of faculty ask students to spend 0-$50 for each course.
Illustration of a stack of books Nearly 2/3 of faculty say they assigned 75-100% of a book.
Illustration of a teacher Around 3/4 of faculty say they are very aware of textbook cost when they assign books.

 

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