UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Results of a statewide 2023 survey of undergraduate students, including those at Penn State, indicated that Pennsylvania students are more worried than their nationwide peers about textbook costs and may avoid purchasing them — often at the expense of their achievement in courses.

The Course Material Affordability survey, conducted in spring and fall 2023 by Bay View Analytics in partnership with Affordable Learning PA (ALPA)/Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI), included more than 4,300 students from 14 colleges and universities, including 178 Penn State students from across the University. In addition, the survey also included 500 students from outside Pennsylvania for comparison and to offer a national perspective.

“The ALPA survey’s results have been very valuable to, although not unexpected by, our community as we continue to emphasize and value the creation, availability and adoption of free and low-cost course materials in Penn State courses,” said Rebecca Miller Waltz, University Libraries’ associate dean for learning and engagement. “We have been keenly aware for many years that textbook costs and related course material fees have been a barrier to Penn State students’ academic success and financial strain on many in our community. Since 2016, the University has worked to grow open and affordable educational resources (OAER) to help reduce students’ overall cost of attendance. We hope to continue expanding use of OAER as a strong example of Penn State’s strategic foundational priority of providing access and affordability to a quality education.”

Among Penn State respondents, responses aligned very closely with their commonwealth and nationwide peers. Nearly three-fourths of students, 71%, expressed worry about meeting course material costs, and about half of those said they were moderately or extremely worried about those costs. Individuals expressing higher levels of worry included students from underrepresented populations among Black, Hispanic and female demographics, Pell grant recipients and students holding full-time jobs off campus.

Similarly, 72% of Penn State students reported they had not purchased a course’s required textbook, and 33% said they had not registered for a specific course because of its cost of required course materials. In addition, 33% said they had earned a poor grade because they couldn’t afford to purchase a course textbook, and 17% dropped a course because of the cost of materials required for the course.

Finally, 98% of Penn State students tried at least one method to manage textbook costs, from buying a used copy, locating one online or going without. More than one third, 37%, of Penn State students reported they had gone without a required textbook.

"These findings will help us better contextualize ongoing efforts with open educational resources (OER) adoptions and open educational practices, so we can reduce costs for students, give faculty more control over course materials and help students stay enrolled at Penn State," said Elizabeth Nelson, reference and instruction librarian at Penn State University Libraries’ Lehigh Valley Campus Library and ALPA Steering Committee member.

Penn State librarians with OAER expertise have tracked OER usage data and benefits for several years. From spring 2021 through fall 2023, 673 courses using OER have benefited more than 14,000 Penn State students. In addition to encouraging adoption of OER in courses, in September 2023 the University Libraries also helped to establish a new option in LionPATH, Penn State’s student information system, that marks courses with free or low-cost materials, in time for students’ spring 2024 course registration period.

In 2020, data revealed that OAER use had potentially saved Penn State students $4.8 million in additional costs, supported by a University allocation of $245,000 to enable membership in OER-content consortia and to help incentivize Penn State faculty to create their own OAER content for a course if none exists.

On Jan. 18, Bay View Analytics recorded a webinar, titled “Course Materials Cost Students More Than Money,” to discuss their findings. Nelson was a panelist and offered additional insights.

“Students, especially underrepresented students in a variety of different categories are potentially moving away from the majors that they anticipate being more expensive,” she said. “We know there’s a pipeline issue with undergraduate to graduate to career in STEM and in areas like that for underrepresented students. So, my concern is partially that … expensive textbooks in the first year or so are pushing these students who are under increased burdens and increased stress to say, ‘You know what, maybe I can’t be a doctor, maybe I can’t be a scientist, maybe I can’t go into business, maybe I need to pick something that’s more affordable for me.’ And so we could be losing those students from those career fields.”

Student testimonials from the survey bear out Nelson’s observations. Open-ended, anonymous survey responses from Penn State students included the following statements:

• “The cost of materials has influenced my choice of major significantly.”
• “It has been upsetting that I could not do homework required for a large percentage of a course I was already paying for without paying an additional $100.”
• “Worrying about the cost of textbooks has caused me to miss a few meals to save up money for it.”
• “It is an extra burden for students that cannot even afford tuition without loans. But I cannot disenroll in any course because I am likely taking the course to fulfill a requirement for graduation — like most students. I have gone to another university before that had more resources for first-generation students to get help for funding their books or the teachers printed/gave us links and PDFs for our course materials. I spent two years there and only spent around $30-50 on books. As a [Penn State] student, I’ve taken nine classes and only one offered free materials and spent more than $400 on materials in one year. This is especially hard for low-income students.”
• “This semester since not needing to buy course materials I’ve been able to focus on my studies without that financial burden.”

“For my first-year writing courses, I tend to use OER because it is more equitable for all students. No one has to worry about not being able to afford the text for my class,” said Michelle Kaschak, associate teaching professor of English and coordinator of the Writing Center at Penn State Lehigh Valley.

Alison Bonner, assistant teaching professor of mathematics, also said she is supportive of the impacts of incorporating OAER.

“A student who late added my calculus class asked what the purchase cost was for the text and homework manager," Bonner said. "When I replied that there was no cost, I visibly saw the tension in his face and shoulders relax. As I showed him how the chosen materials integrated smoothly with the LMS [learning management system], he was smiling. It is my hope that all my students experience the relief of knowing their course materials are accessible from day one of class. I overheard a conversation between students in my class complaining about another course for which the $250 textbook was rarely used. They expressed anger and dissolution. That type of negative experience is lasting.”

Bonner added, “Math can be a stressful class. Offering free materials eliminates the added stress of hunting down your materials. No one will be behind waiting for a book to arrive or a paycheck to be deposited. From the first day of the semester, it’s go time!”

Additional information about open and affordable educational resources at Penn State — including locating OER to adopt in a course, discovering Penn State-created OER and exploring available OER support services — is available at oer.psu.edu.