Definitions of ZTC from other California community colleges

College of the Canyons

What are OER and ZTC?

Zero Textbook Cost, or ZTC for short, are digital textbooks available for FREE to students. Many instructors at College of the Canyons have chosen to use these textbooks, which are created by using Open Educational Resources (OER) content in their classrooms to cut educational costs for students. As textbook prices rise, more and more courses are utilizing ZTC textbooks to provide a free alternative to traditional textbooks.

I can take classes with FREE textbooks?!

Yes! Classes that use Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) textbooks are listed in the class schedule. You can click on a class section to verify that it is a ZTC textbook course. There will be a note explaining that the class uses a no-cost digital textbook.

College of the Redwoods

Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Courses means either:

Does not have a textbook.
Has a textbook, which is available for FREE!

ZTC courses may have a printed option available in the bookstore and may still have a material fee. Some ZTC courses may also have a publisher textbook you can purchase as another choice, but ZTC courses are required to provide at least one free option. Students must be able to be successful in the class if choosing the ZTC option.

College of the Sequoias (draft)

Proposal

The OER Task Force proposes the following:

Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course sections are those that use online course materials for which there is no cost to students, with the following clarifications.

costs for materials (e.g., lab materials, other required supplies) are not considered a textbook cost.
cost calculations are based on total required textbook costs; costs associated with optional textbooks are not considered.
for-cost print options will not count as a textbook cost, as long as a free, digital copy exists that the student can access.
materials should be free of cost, in a manner that can be accessed by all students simultaneously.
costs associated with required online homework systems/labs count as textbook costs.
library materials could be used to create a zero-textbook cost course, as long as they are accessible to all students simultaneously.
Please note: not all materials found online can be shared legally in the classroom. Please email Dr. Deborah Nolan at deborahn@cos.edu if you need want to attend copyright training.

Cosumnes River

What is ZTC?
Zero Textbook Costs (ZTC) means that there is no cost for required textbooks, workbooks, lab manuals, readers, or specialized software like online homework systems. There is a state law (SB 1359) that requires California Community Colleges to identify Zero Textbook Costs course sections.

Grossmont College

In 2018, the State of California passed a bill requiring colleges to label any course that does not require fees for textbooks as ZTC. You may have already seen some of the classes in the Grossmont College class schedule labeled ZTC, or "zero textbook cost." When an instructor designates their class ZTC it means they have designed their class without using a traditional textbook as part of their syllabus.

What this means for you, the student, is that you will not be required to purchase a textbook for this class. However, there may be other fees for materials required for the course, such as lab supplies and test forms.

Modesto Junior College

ZTC Course: A Zero Textbook Cost course is one that does not require students to purchase a textbook. There may be an ”instructional materials fee” for supplies such as a calculator, art supplies, or other intangible materials that can be used beyond a specific class, but not a textbook. For additional information on the California Community College Chancellor’s Office guidelines on instructional materials fees, please click here. (p.5)

Moorpark College

Zero Textbook Cost

ZTC courses use digital textbooks and resources so that students incur no cost to access course information. ZTC materials are freely available and include items such as governmental resources, open education resources (OER), library databases, and other reputable material available at no cost online. ZTC courses do not require fees to access software platforms or homework sites, but may require materials that are not free, such as calculators, text forms, clay, or goggles.

Pasadena City College

ZTC = Zero textbook Cost

In order for a section to be designated as a "ZTC (Zero-Textbook-Cost) class" it must fulfill one of the following requirements:

All required textbooks and readings for the class can be accessed online by students for free (ex: OER textbooks, library ebooks).
There are no required textbooks for the class (textbooks might be recommended, but not required).

Other considerations:

Lab materials or required supplies are not considered a textbook cost, so if a course section meets the parameters noted above, but do require a materials fee – then the section WOULD qualify as a ZTC class.
If students need to pay fees to access a software platform to do coursework or homework, this counts as a textbook cost. The course section would NOT qualify.

Palomar College

These are Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) courses. This means the course either: ➔ Does not have a textbook ➔ Has a textbook, which is available for FREE! ZTC courses may have a printed option available in the bookstore and may still have a material fee. Some ZTC courses may also have a publisher textbook you can purchase as another choice, but ZTC courses are required to provide at least one free option. Students must be able to be successful in the class if choosing the ZTC option.

Saddleback College

What is ZTC?

ZTC (Zero-Textbook-Cost) classes have no textbook-related costs, including access fees for online materials. Such classes often use Open Educational Resources (OER) created under a Creative Commons (a public copyright license) that give people the ability to share, use, and build upon a work that has been created. They may also use library ebooks or other sources so there is no cost to the student. Saddleback College faculty have adopted and created OER to provide high-quality educational materials to you at no cost online, and low-cost print options.

Santa Anna College

ZTC Course Designation

Faculty: How to determine if your course is a Zero Textbook Cost course:

The State has established parameters for what constitutes “zero-textbook-cost”:
If all assigned textbooks are optional for the section
If all assigned textbooks are identified as Open Educational Resource (OER) textbooks
If there is no assigned textbook
If the assigned textbooks (including course readers) are available online for free (i.e. through library databases) AND students are not required to buy a physical copy
(Note: for course readers and online materials, faculty are responsible for adhering to copyright and accessibility requirements)

Other considerations:

Lab materials or required supplies are not considered a textbook cost, so if a course section meets the parameters noted above, but do require a materials fee – then the section WOULD still qualify textbook cost free per State guidelines.
If students need to pay fees to access a software platform to do coursework or homework, this counts as a cost. The course section would NOT qualify.
A course must be replacing a textbook with an associated cost, with zero textbook cost materials to qualify for the ZTC designation.

To have your course designated as a ZTC course, please send all ZTC courses/section numbers for the upcoming semester to disted@sac.edu. If you are unsure if a section should be considered for inclusion as “zero cost” in the schedule of classes, please contact our office!

Skyline College

S.B. 1359 states Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) course materials “may include open educational resources, institutionally licensed campus library materials that all students enrolled in the course have access to use, and other properly licensed and adopted materials.”

Zero textbook cost (ZTC) also means that students do not incur any costs for purchasing course materials. Zero-cost to the students does not guarantee zero-cost to the institution, i.e. subscription databases, library equipment loans. To create a ZTC course, instructors might use Open Educational Resources (OER); Open Access, Creative Commons, and public domain materials, along with teacher-created materials and electronic resources owned or licensed by the Skyline College Library.