Zero Textbook Costs (ZTC) for Students

ZTC Classes

DVC is proud to offer students Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) sections for select courses. For these sections, students will not pay for the educational resources needed to complete the class (however, you may still have costs for materials like art supplies, calculators, etc.).

Look for this symbol in the online schedule:

Icon of a yellow dollar sign, crossed out and superimposed over a blue textbook

ZTC means:

  • Less hidden costs when you sign up for classes
  • No more borrowing books or photo copying pages
  • No missing assignments because you don’t have the book
  • The cost of textbooks will not stand in the way of your education!

Open Educational Resources (OER) for Faculty

OER@DVC Workgroup

DVC students consistently identify textbook costs as the number one barrier to their success. Open educational resources (OER) are high-quality, free teaching tools that are a great way to support your students and advance education equity. Faculty can get started with OER in their discipline through the Open Educational Resources Initiative.

OER@DVC is a workgroup of the Academic Senate, and supports faculty to convert their courses from traditional textbooks to ZTC through professional development, one-on-one support, and cohort grant programs.

Check out our video featuring DVC students speaking about the impact of ZTC classes:

OER@DVC Faculty Programs

2023-2026 Grant Programs

Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) has been selected to receive a $1 million federal community project funding grant to develop no-cost course materials using OER. Diablo Valley College will use this grant to expand the reach of ZTC classes on campus. In addition, DVC has received $800,000 from the Chancellor's Zero Textbook Cost Program to build ZTC degree pathways in Addiction Studies, Public Health, Sociology, Political Science, Social Justice, Economics, and Culinary.

To get involved in faculty grant programs, please contact the coordinators listed below.

2022 Grant Program

HEERF OER@DVC

67 faculty participants received equity-focused professional development, curation support, and a stipend to convert existing courses from traditional textbooks to OER/ZTC, saving DVC students $468,000 each and every semester. 

Program funding from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund and overseen by the OER@DVC work group.

2019-2021 Grant Program

LibreText

21 faculty participants converted 57 sections to ZTC, saving DVC students $119,896 each and every semester.

Program funding from the Department of Education through the Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant and LibreText.

Contact Us

Name Email
Andrea Sorce, OER@DVC Co-Coordinator asorce@dvc.edu
Amanda Choi, OER@DVC Co-Coordinator achoi@dvc.edu
Ji Yeon Shin, OER@DVC Co-Coordinator jshin@dvc.edu