Textbook and Course Materials Guide

This textbook and course material information is for all Oregon State University courses – online, hybrid and on campus.

Oregon’s House Bill 2871 requires faculty to indicate clearly when a course section uses open textbooks or other low-cost and no-cost course materials.

There is an established compliance process in place at Oregon State that relies on the OSU Beaver Store's textbook information upload system.

To make sure students have important information about the costs of course materials, faculty and those responsible for ordering textbooks are asked to provide the OSU Beaver Store with the following information:

  • Textbooks required for purchase
  • Course materials that are no cost and provided by the instructor or Beaver Store
  • Courses that do not require student to purchase any course materials

Note: If no form is submitted, students see a message that the instructor has not filed a requisition yet, and they will not know if materials are required or what they cost.

Step-by-step guide

To comply with the regulations, follow these simple steps:

  1. For all course sections, at least 30 days an advance of each new term’s initial registration date, fill out an OSU Beaver Store faculty order form. Please submit this form if your course requires that course materials be purchased, if your course does not require any course materials, and/or if course materials are provided at no-cost by the instructor or Beaver Store.
  2. Once this information is submitted, the Beaver Store website will post information for the course section indicating the required course materials, including info for courses that do not require course materials and those that require no-cost materials.
  3. The Beaver Store shares this information with the Schedule of Classes, and OSU students will be able to find information about the cost of course materials in two convenient locations.

Low-cost and no-cost course materials FAQ

Is the submission of course material information a new requirement?

Yes. A new state law requires that all public institutions in Oregon notify students of course sections that offer low- or no-cost course materials. All universities and community colleges in the state are required to comply.

Where will students see low- and no-cost designations for course sections?

Students will be able to identify course sections that are low- and no-cost in two locations, the Beaver Store website and the OSU Schedule of Classes. The designations are included in the Course Materials portion for each applicable course in the detailed course view, and students can used the advanced search on the OSU Schedule to search all available course sections that offer low- and/or no-cost course materials.

I submitted my form, but do not see the designation yet in the Schedule of Classes and/or on the Beaver Store website. Is something wrong?

The designation does not appear immediately and can take up to 24 hours to appear. Various systems need to sync to populate the correct information. If more than 24 hours have passed and your class section is not appearing as you think it should, please contact the Beaver Store.

Why must I submit a form if my course does not use course materials, or if my course uses materials that are no-cost?

The intent of the law is to help students make informed financial decisions when registering for classes. In order to provide students with this information, the university needs to collect it. If no information is submitted for a course, students will see a notice indicating that the faculty member has not yet submitted the text and course material information for the course.

Do I need to submit this information every term I teach the course?

Yes. Text and course materials requirements can and do change. To ensure accuracy, this information needs to be submitted each term a course is offered. The Beaver Store has made the process easier by providing a “copy from previous term” option that will auto-populate the form after the initial term.

What does “low-cost” mean, exactly?

Course sections with the low-cost designation require course materials that cost no more than $40. Additional details:

  • The total is cumulative. If a course requires two textbooks, one that costs $10 and one that costs $200, it would not be designated as a low-cost course materials section.
  • The total is based on the lowest-priced option for each text or course material. If a new hardcover text costs $100, but there are used editions, rentals, or ebooks available, the lowest price option is used.

I do not see a low-cost SKU number. Do I have to indicate on the form that my course is a low-cost section?

No. You simply submit your text or course material requisition form, and the system will automatically determine if there are low-cost options for the text you specified available for your students.

Which no-cost course materials need to be submitted?

Required textbooks, manuals, and other course materials such as software or lab kits should be submitted. Materials provided in Canvas such as lecture notes, slides, or assignment directions do not need to be submitted.


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