Updates on Support for Course Materials for Fall 2023

During the Fall 2020 term, shifts to virtual instruction and course materials made acquiring the tools to succeed academically more challenging for students with limited financial resources. In response, Penn First Plus partnered with the Undergraduate Schools and Financial Aid to provide access codes for materials in key gateway courses across a variety of fields, eventually supporting 350 students each term.

Over three years, we learned much about Penn culture as it relates to required class materials. Specifically, that course materials expenses contribute too much to student course selection – including selecting classes where P1P might offer a free access code.

In Fall 2022, we began to investigate how students learn about course expenses only to discover that less than half of courses list their required-to-be-purchased materials at the Bookstore, and many syllabi are not posted to PATH @ Penn. Manual collection of course material cost information by our Graduate Assistant suggested that any estimate – including using national averages calculated by the College Board – might not be accurate, given how inconsistent Penn is with listing required materials and their costs in our student information systems.

Penn First Plus alongside our colleagues in the Undergraduate Advising Offices, Financial Aid, and Office of the Provost agree that while the P1P Access Code initiative was a helpful resource during the pandemic, we need to pursue more cultural change and data as they relate to course materials in the curriculum. Therefore, the Access Code initiative is suspended for Fall 2023.

During Fall 2023:

The Undergraduate Schools will be asked to encourage faculty to list their courses in the Bookstore so that we can garner a more accurate estimate of the true cost-per-term of educational supplies.
Penn First Plus partners with Penn Libraries to expand course reserves so that while students wait for their aid to disburse, they can keep pace with required readings.
Penn provides more financial wellness information as it relates to this college-going expense.

Initially, we offer the following insight and advice to students:

Unlike high school, where curricula are standardized, the academic freedom provided to students and faculty means that across different sections of the same course and/or different semesters, required course materials change. There is too much variation for these materials to consistently be provided directly to you as was possible earlier in your academic career.

Students expecting an aid refund that would support their course materials expenses may expect that refund to take place as early as 10 days prior to the start of classes. Some students may need to wait longer due to late paperwork or processing delays.

If you are a student on aid but do not qualify for an aid refund, your Work Study award and/or Expected Family Contribution should be used to cover these expenses.

Where the arrival of financial aid or familial support is taking longer than expected, books listed at the Penn Bookstore may be purchased using a line of credit, which can then be repaid with aid or other funds.

Course reserves are holdings that Penn Libraries sets aside specifically for you to access on a time-limited basis to ensure you can read the material before deciding if you need your own private copy of the book. Instructions on accessing said materials are available on the Penn Libraries website.

Advice for faculty:

In calculating financial aid that supports Penn’s cost of attendance, Penn budgets $1358 per year for course materials. If a student is taking a 4-4 load, that is approximately $170 per class for books, notebooks, and other tools. If a student is taking a 5-5 load, that is approximately $136 per class. It is generally advised that the total cost of your course’s materials inclusive of required books, software/electronic materials, and other supplies be kept below $150 per term to avoid barriers to participation for students with more modest financial means.

Listing your course at the Penn Bookstore allows for a more accurate reflection of the cost of your required materials, provides Penn with the data necessary to calculate financial aid for future years, and allows you to cultivate the most affordable options for today’s students. The Bookstore begins collecting such information as early as March, for the following fall semester, and October, for the Spring term.

Upload your syllabi to Course Search as soon as possible in advance of the semester (i.e. Advance Registration the term prior), and include options for the purchase and rental of required texts. Alternatively, uploading a course description that is inclusive of the estimated cost for materials required in your class is still helpful for students in budgeting.

Request a hard copy of the text be placed on course reserve, and renew that listing each semester you teach the course.

If you are using but a portion of a book, course reserve requests can also be used to have limited sections of the material scanned for distribution via Canvas. Contact Erin Sharwell (sharwell@upenn.edu) to explore what is allowable under copyright law.

Consider switching to Open Educational Resources where possible.

Consider including in your syllabus any of the following statements as they apply to your course:

Details on which books are required, where they may be purchased or accessed, and at what cost.
To assist students with course-related expenses, a copy of this course’s required text is available in the Library’s course reserves.
While the most current edition of the required text is listed, students may also curtail expenses by purchasing one the following earlier editions [list editions/years here].
The required text for this course will also be required for the next course in the sequence and/or as a reference text if you decide to major in [list disciplines]. Please use this information when deciding to purchase or rent the material.

Advice for student-facing administrators:

Normalize the sticker shock students are experiencing in attempting to buy their own books for what is likely the first time. Per the advice to students:

Unlike high school, where curricula are standardized, the academic freedom provided to students and faculty means that across different sections of the same course and/or different semesters, course materials change. There is too much variation for these materials to consistently be provided directly to you as was possible earlier in your academic career.
Ask if the student as budgeted their financial aid award or other funds for the $679 projected cost of materials for this semester? Have they discussed questions regarding how their award works for books with their financial aid counselor?
If the student’s familial financial situation has changed, and the support they expected from their family is no longer available, they should contact their financial aid counselor about a potential reevaluation.
If a student has encountered an unexpected situation that has consumed funding they otherwise budgeted for their educational expenses, they should request emergency funding support. This request should focus on funding for the unexpected event and should not include a request for textbook funding. Requests for funding for required course materials (e.g. textbooks, access codes, software, etc.) will be denied, as those monies are included in financial aid.