Related Information

Statewide Zero-Textbook Cost Program

What's On This Page?

  • $115 Million for CCCs
  • Frequently Asked Questions about Zero Textbook Costs
  • ZTC Statistics

$115 Million for CCCs

The State of California is providing California community colleges $115 million for Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) projects. There are two pots of funding available: locally controlled ZTC Implementation Grant and systemwide-controlled ZTC Acceleration Grant.

 

The CCCCO systemwide office sent a guidance memo in August 2023. This memo was an update of the February 2023 guidance memo. And this was an update to the original July 2022 guidance memo.

 

During summer 2023, the CCCCO systemwide office held at least 5 Program Plan webinars from August to mid-September, which was attended by the college's OER Coordinator, Dr. Josh Franco.

 

On Thursday, September 21, 2023, the Memo re: Availability of Zero Textbook Cost Funding was emailed to all faculty. The memo described the locally controlled ZTC Implementation Grant and systemwide-controlled ZTC Acceleration Grant.

 

From September 2023 to November 2023, the college's OER Coordinator, Dr. Josh Franco, worked with colleagues to prepare program entries that would be included in the college's overall ZTC Acceleration Grant application to the CCCCO.

 

Below is a table of program entries that were included, faculty leads, department/program chairs, status, action pending,  any due to CCCCO, and awarded amount.

 

Outcome of ZTC Acceleration Grant Application by Program Entries

 

Program

Faculty Lead(s)

Chair

Status

Action Pending?

Due to CCCCO

Awarded

ARBC

Arabic Associates of Arts

hanaa.alkassas@gcccd.edu, jane.gazale@gcccd.edu, roula.aoneh@gcccd.edu,

Jane Gazale

Awarded

    

$200,000

ART

Art History for Transfer

joshua.eggleton@gcccd.edu, erin.whitman@gcccd.edu, john.abel@gcccd.edu,

Joshua Eggleton

Collaboration Cohort

 

  

$30,000

CD

Child Development AA-T or ECE AS-T

nicole.hernandez@gcccd.edu,

Nicole Hernandez

Collaboration Cohort

    

$30,000

ENGR

Electrical and Computer Engineering

carlos.perez@gcccd.edu,

Keenan Murray, Ph.D.

Awarded

    

$200,000

ES Yoga

Yoga Teacher Training Certificate

jennifer.tomaschke@gcccd.edu,

 

Awarded

    

$200,000

HIST

History AA-T

moriah.gonzalezmeeks@gcccd.edu,

Moriah Gonzalez-Meeks

Collaboration Cohort

 

  

$30,000

MATH

Mathematics AS-T

terrie.nichols@gcccd.edu, rachel.polakoski@gcccd.edu, daniel.curtis@gcccd.edu,

Rachel Polakoski, EdD; Daniel Curtis

Denied

      

MUS

Music Industry Studies AA

james.sepulvado@gcccd.edu, dawn.hanus@gcccd.edu,

James Sepulvado

Awarded

    

$200,000

OH

Landscape Architecture AA

amy.huie@gcccd.edu, katie.seidenwurm@gcccd.edu,

Amy Huie

Awarded

    

$200,000

PHYS

Physics AS-T

miriam.simpson@gcccd.edu,

Miriam Simpson

Collaboration Cohort

    

$30,000

POSC

Political Science AA-T

josue.franco@gcccd.edu;

Steve Weinert

Collaboration Cohort

    

$30,000

SPAN

Spanish AA-T

karla.gutierrez@gcccd.edu,

Karla Gutierrez

Collaboration Cohort

    

$30,000
             

$1,180,000

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Zero Textbook Costs

  • Description of ZTC

    • Zero Textbook Cost, or ZTC, means that the instructor has self-reported adopting a textbook that cost zero dollars for students.

    • Much of the time, the ZTC textbook is electronically available as a file download or embedded in a course website.

    • If you want to know more about a specific ZTC textbook, please contact the professor.

  • What courses need to be designated as ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) in the class schedule?
    • The ZTC symbol is required only for those courses where the cost of the textbook is zero dollars.
  • What if a course has an online zero-cost text but students have the option to pay to have it duplicated?
    • This is still a ZTC section and should be designated as such since students have the option of accessing the text completely online.
  • What if a course has an online lab manual written by the instructor but all students are required to duplicate the manual for use in class?
    • In this case, there is a cost for students, so the ZTC designation would not be used.
  • If a course’s texts or materials are low cost, do we use the ZTC designation?
    • No, the ZTC designation is only for courses that have zero textbook cost.
  • What if a course section has been designated as ZTC but the instructor leaves and a new instructor takes over that section? Is that new instructor required to keep the section as ZTC?
    • A good-faith effort will be made to keep the section as ZTC.
    • The dean in consultation with the department chair attempting to staff the class with a new instructor will make every effort to keep the class as ZTC, especially if students have already begun to register for that section under the assumption that there will be no costs for textbooks.
  • Why is there a special symbol?
    • SB 1359 is a state law that requires California Community Colleges to designate Zero Cost Textbook course sections.

ZTC Statistics

  • Spring 2024 (as of February 1, 2024)
    • Cuyamaca College:  202 ZTC sections out of a total of 816 sections. 25% sections are ZTC.
    • Grossmont College: 461 ZTC sections out of a total of 1614 sections.  29% sections are ZTC.
  • Fall 2023 (as of August 16, 2023)
    • Cuyamaca College: 173 ZTC sections out of a total of 781 sections. 22% sections are ZTC.
    • Grossmont College: 461 ZTC sections out of a total of 1513 sections.  30% sections are ZTC.
  • Spring 2023 (as of February 14, 2023):
    • Cuyamaca College: 144 ZTC sections out of a total of 764 sections. 19% of sections are ZTC.
    • Grossmont College: 442 ZTC sections out of a total of 1466 sections. 30% of sections are ZTC.
  • Fall 2022 (as of August 27, 2022):
    • Cuyamaca College: 134 ZTC sections out of a total of 746 sections. 18% of sections are ZTC.
    • Grossmont College: 412 ZTC sections out of a total of 1465 sections. 28% of sections are ZTC.
  • Summer 2022 (as of August 27, 2022):
    • Cuyamaca College: 12 ZTC sections out of a total of 112 sections. 10% of sections are ZTC.
    • Grossmont College: 73 ZTC sections out of a total of 204 sections. 36% of sections are ZTC.
  • No Data for Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022 collected.
  • During Spring 2021, Cuyamaca College offered 815 sections (or courses), 772 (94.7%) of these courses did not have a ZTC label in the Description field, while 43 courses (5.3%) were labeled ZTC. For comparison, during this same time frame, Grossmont College offered 1,615 sections, 1218 (75.4%) of these courses did not have a ZTC label in the Description field, while 397 courses (24.6%) were labeled ZTC.
    • As of December 7, 2020, at Cuyamaca College, 12,436 (92.7%) students were enrolled in non-ZTC courses, while 974 (7.3%) students were enrolled in ZTC courses.
    • As of December 7, 2020, at Grossmont College, 20,033 (80.8%) students were enrolled in non-ZTC courses, while 4,745 (19.2%) students were enrolled in ZTC courses.
  • During Fall 2020, Cuyamaca College offered 738 sections (or courses). 704 (95.4%) of these courses did not have a ZTC label in the Description field, while 34 courses (4.6%) were labeled ZTC.
    • On September 24, 2020, 17,861 (93.1%) students were enrolled in non-ZTC courses, while 1,334 (6.9%) students were enrolled in ZTC courses.