Does Affordability Come at a Cost? Evidence on Textbook Cost Reduction and Student Academic Outcomes

• In Event: College Affordability and Student Success: Evidence on Policies to Address Non-Tuition Costs and Student Basic Needs

Abstract

Rising textbook costs have become an increasingly salient component of college affordability, particularly for community college students who face significant financial constraints beyond tuition and fees. In response, many states and institutions have implemented policies to expand the use of zero-textbook-cost (ZTC) course materials, often through the adoption of open educational resources (OER). While these initiatives are intended to reduce financial barriers to college participation, concerns persist that replacing commercial textbooks with alternative materials may compromise instructional quality and student learning outcomes. Empirical evidence on the large-scale effects of such policies remains limited, particularly in terms of causal inference and systemwide implementation.

This study examines the academic consequences of a statewide ZTC initiative in the California Community Colleges system. Leveraging administrative data from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, we analyze a cohort of over 230,000 first-time-in-college students entering during the 2022–2023 academic year. The dataset includes detailed course enrollment records, student demographics, and section-level indicators of instructional material costs, allowing for precise identification of ZTC course sections. Focusing on students’ first-term coursework, we evaluate both immediate academic outcomes—such as course persistence, pass rates, and grades—and downstream outcomes, including subsequent course enrollment and performance within the same field of study.

To address concerns about selection bias, we employ a two-way fixed effects design that compares student performance across ZTC and non-ZTC sections of the same course while controlling for student, course, and term fixed effects. This approach allows us to isolate the relationship between exposure to zero-cost instructional materials and academic outcomes by effectively comparing students to themselves across different course contexts and comparing sections within the same institutional setting.

Our findings indicate that enrollment in ZTC sections is associated with modest but statistically significant improvements in short-term academic outcomes. Specifically, students in ZTC sections exhibit slightly higher rates of course persistence and are more likely to pass with both D-or-higher and C-or-higher grades. Course grades are also modestly higher among students enrolled in ZTC sections.

Crucially, we find no evidence that ZTC participation adversely affects students’ subsequent academic progression. Students who enroll in ZTC sections during their initial exposure to a field are equally likely to enroll in follow-up courses and perform similarly in those courses compared to their peers in non-ZTC sections. These results address a key concern that lower-cost instructional materials might weaken preparation for more advanced coursework.

Taken together, the findings suggest that large-scale textbook affordability reforms can reduce financial barriers without compromising academic quality. While the magnitude of the observed academic benefits is modest, the absence of negative effects—combined with the potential for substantial cost savings—positions ZTC initiatives as a low-risk, high-impact policy lever. At the same time, variation in ZTC adoption across fields, particularly in STEM and career technical education, highlights the need for targeted investments to support broader implementation. This study contributes to the literature by providing rigorous, large-scale evidence on the academic impacts of textbook affordability policies and offers actionable insights for policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to improve college access and success.

Authors

• Michael Span, University of California Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Di Xu, University of California Irvine
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Winnie Yee, University of California Irvine
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Sabrina Mahendra Solanki, University of California Irvine
  Non-Presenting Co-Author