VCU students often feel the impact of high textbook costs more severely than their counterparts at other public and private Virginia colleges and universities, according to new data from a statewide survey.

Access to course materials, such as textbooks and homework software, is a key factor in student success. Unfortunately, the cost of these materials often poses a significant barrier for students. Textbook prices have increased far beyond the rate of inflation since 2006, outpacing other categories of goods and services including tuition, healthcare, and housing (via Bureau of Labor Statistics). VCU Libraries has been working to reduce textbook costs for VCU students since 2016. Through the Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative, VCU Libraries provides education, advocacy and support for faculty looking to transition to zero cost course materials. 

In Spring 2025, more than 450 randomly selected VCU students participated in a statewide survey exploring the relationship between textbook costs and educational equity. A newly released report from VCU Libraries’ Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative shares the VCU results of the Virginia Course Materials Survey. The report analyzes results from VCU respondents. The survey shows that VCU students experience the impact of textbook costs more acutely than their peers across Virginia and at other Virginia doctoral institutions, as was also true in 2021. Some highlights include: 

• 75% of VCU respondents are worried about textbook costs, with 14% saying they were extremely worried. These levels of worry are more severe than the level of all Virginia students (70% expressed some degree of worry, 11% extremely worried) and even more so when compared to students at Virginia’s non-VCU doctoral institutions (66%, 10%).
• 75% of VCU respondents indicated that they have not purchased a textbook due to textbook costs. 
• 37% of VCU respondents have earned a poor grade because they did not purchase a textbook due to cost.  
• 28% selected a major due to course material costs, in comparison to 20% of Virginia respondents and 24% of other Virginia doctoral institutions.

The survey shows that textbook costs also impact course selection, course completion and student academic success. In each of these categories, VCU students demonstrate higher degrees of impact of course material costs than their peers at other Virginia public universities and their peers from participating Virginia doctoral universities (George Mason University, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and William and Mary). 

The survey, coordinated by Virginia’s academic library consortium, VIVA, built on a survey conducted in Fall 2021. The 2025 survey updates data for the areas explored in the first survey, and offers new information to help address the changing open and affordable landscape in Virginia. VCU Libraries played an active role in developing this work. Abbey Childs, open educational resource librarian, served on the task force that developed the 2025 survey. 

“The 2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey presents an opportunity to better understand the impacts of textbook costs in Virginia and here at VCU,” Childs said. “Through our work with the Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative, we often hear from students about their struggles with textbook costs. Having tangible data allows us to highlight the scale of the issue and the real impacts of course material costs on our student community here at VCU, and the survey results will help us to better advocate to faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders. Our next steps are to engage in targeted outreach across campus to share these survey results widely and let the VCU community know that VCU Libraries is here to help with switching to open and affordable course content to mitigate the impact of high textbook costs.”

All Virginia institutions were invited to participate in the survey. Ultimately, 38 institutions, including VCU, opted to participate, with 9,089 students responding. At VCU, 452 VCU responses were received. All participating institutions were provided with data gathered from their institution’s respondents. Due to research protocols and efforts to maintain respondent anonymity, institutional data is only available on the summary level.

The VCU Libraries report is available on Scholars Compass, VCU’s Institutional Repository. Included is an executive summary and full report, plus the data set for the VCU summary level data and a visual overview handout, which gives an at-a-glance overview of some of VCU’s key findings. A report on the statewide data set is forthcoming from VIVA and will be available on the Virginia Course Material Surveys landing page. 

Learn more about VCU Libraries’ support for textbook affordability

VCU Libraries’ Open and Affordable Course Content Initiative provides education, advocacy and direct support for the adoption, customization and creation of open educational resources or other free course content. This includes managing the Affordable Course Content Awards. To learn more or explore the possibility of using or creating OER, contact Abbey Childs.