A survey of Washington state’s community and technical colleges was completed at the end of 2017 regarding what college students believe is a reasonable cost for course materials.  The data collected led to 6 findings recently published by the SBCTC and WACTCSA.

·        Research brief

·        Slide presentation

·        Interactive dashboard

Findings include:

• When asked how much students feel is a reasonable cost to pay for ALL required instructional materials for a single (5 credit), quarter-long class, the threshold choice selected by the highest percent of respondents was $50 or less (35%), followed by $30 (28%) and $40 (21%).

• An alarming number of students take courses without having the required materials. 44% of students indicated that they have sometimes or often taken courses without the required materials due to the cost. Only 47% stated that they often have the required course materials for the first day of the class.