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What Is ZTC?

鈥淶ero Textbook Cost鈥 means students pay $0 for all required course materials. California Assembly Bill 1887 (2022) requires community colleges to flag ZTC and low-cost (鈮$40) sections in the schedule of classes.

The PLC can help you find OER, adopt or adapt materials, confirm your course qualifies, and set everything up in Canvas 鈥 start with Tammy Boates, our Open Educational Resources Liaison. OER adoption workshops are flex-credit eligible.

$0

Student cost for required materials in a ZTC section

鈮$40

Threshold for the 鈥淟ow-Cost鈥 designation.

2026

AB 1887 reporting requirements in full effect.

How to Get Your Course Designated ZTC

1
Select or create $0 materials. Openly licensed OER, library resources, instructor-authored content, or a combination. Every required item must be free.
2
Confirm everything is truly $0. Review your syllabus item by item. Optional materials may have a cost; required materials may not.
3
Notify your department and the Curriculum Office. The ZTC flag must be applied during scheduling so students see it in the class search.
4
Set up all materials in Canvas. Every required resource should be accessible inside the course before the term begins.

OER by Metamajor

Starting points organized by Hartnell鈥檚 metamajors. These are examples, not an exhaustive list 鈥 if your course isn鈥檛 covered here, contact Tammy Boates and we鈥檒l search with you.

Biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science, engineering, and the geosciences.

OpenStax Biology 2e & Concepts of Biology 鈥 Majors and non-majors introductory biology, with figures, review questions, and test banks.
openstax.org


OpenStax Chemistry 2e & Chemistry: Atoms First 鈥 Two full general chemistry sequences with worked problems and lab-ready content.
openstax.org


OpenStax College Physics 2e & University Physics 鈥 Algebra-based and calculus-based physics, with simulation links.
openstax.org


OpenStax Mathematics Series 鈥 Elementary and Intermediate Algebra, Precalculus, Calculus 1鈥3, and Introductory Statistics.
openstax.org


OpenStax Astronomy 2e 鈥 Full introductory astronomy text for non-majors.
openstax.org


LibreTexts 鈥 Remixable texts across Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Math, and Geosciences. Hosted at UC Davis.
libretexts.org


PhET Interactive Simulations 鈥 Free browser-based science and math simulations from CU Boulder 鈥 embeddable directly in Canvas.
phet.colorado.edu


OpenIntro Statistics 鈥 Widely adopted open statistics text with data sets and R/Python labs.
openintro.org


Runestone Academy 鈥 Interactive open computer science texts with in-browser coding (Python, Java, C++).
runestone.academy

Psychology, sociology, history, political science, economics, and anthropology.

OpenStax Psychology 2e 鈥 Full introductory psychology text.
openstax.org


OpenStax Introduction to Sociology 3e 鈥 Introductory sociology with current U.S. examples.
openstax.org


OpenStax U.S. History & World History 鈥 Survey history texts covering the standard two-semester sequences.
openstax.org


OpenStax American Government 3e 鈥 Introductory American government and politics.
openstax.org


OpenStax Principles of Economics 3e 鈥 Also available split as Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.
openstax.org


OpenStax Introduction to Anthropology 鈥 Four-field introductory anthropology.
openstax.org


The American Yawp 鈥 Collaboratively built, peer-reviewed American history text with a companion primary-source reader.
americanyawp.com


Noba Project 鈥 Modular psychology units you can assemble into a custom reader at no cost.
nobaproject.com


Perspectives: An Open Introduction to Cultural Anthropology 鈥 Open cultural anthropology text from the American Anthropological Association.
perspectivesanthro.org

English and composition, communication, world languages and ESL, philosophy, art, and music.

OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook 鈥 First-year composition covering rhetorical strategies, research writing, and multimodal texts.
openstax.org


Writing Commons 鈥 Open-access writing and rhetoric resource covering research, citation, genre, and style.
writingcommons.org


OpenStax Introduction to Philosophy 鈥 Introductory philosophy survey.
openstax.org


Exploring Public Speaking 鈥 Open public speaking text widely used for introductory communication courses.
alg.manifoldapp.org


Understanding Media and Culture 鈥 Open mass communication and media studies text.
open.lib.umn.edu


COERLL 鈥 Open language teaching materials from UT Austin 鈥 Spanish, ESL, and other languages.
coerll.utexas.edu


Acceso 鈥 Open intermediate Spanish curriculum from the University of Kansas.
acceso.ku.edu


Smarthistory 鈥 Open art history essays and videos, organized by period and region.
smarthistory.org


Project Gutenberg & Standard Ebooks 鈥 Public domain literature in clean, accessible digital formats.
gutenberg.org 路 standardebooks.org

Nursing and allied health, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, nutrition, and kinesiology.

OpenStax Anatomy & Physiology 2e 鈥 Comprehensive A&P with clinical correlations and interactive figures.
openstax.org


OpenStax Microbiology 鈥 Introductory microbiology aligned to allied-health programs.
openstax.org


Open RN Nursing Series 鈥 Open nursing textbooks 鈥 Nursing Fundamentals, Pharmacology, Skills, Management, and Mental Health. Developed with a U.S. Department of Education grant.
wtcs.pressbooks.pub


Human Nutrition 鈥 Open nutrition text from the University of Hawai驶i at M膩noa.
pressbooks.oer.hawaii.edu


LibreTexts Medicine 鈥 Remixable allied-health and medical content, including A&P and pathophysiology.
med.libretexts.org


OpenStax Psychology 2e 鈥 Useful for health psychology, lifespan, and behavioral-health courses.
openstax.org


BCcampus Open Library 鈥 Reviewed open textbooks with a strong health and human services collection.
open.bccampus.ca

Agriculture and plant science, business and accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, and the applied trades.

OpenStax Introduction to Business & Principles of Management 鈥 Two core business surveys covering management, organizational behavior, and strategy.
openstax.org


OpenStax Principles of Accounting, Volumes 1 & 2 鈥 Financial and managerial accounting, with problem sets.
openstax.org


OpenStax Principles of Marketing 鈥 Introductory marketing with current digital-marketing coverage.
openstax.org


OpenStax Entrepreneurship 鈥 Venture creation, business planning, and small-business management.
openstax.org


OpenStax Business Ethics & Business Law I Essentials 鈥 Short-format texts suited to survey and CTE courses.
openstax.org


SkillsCommons 鈥 The largest open library of career and technical education material 鈥 agriculture, manufacturing, construction, automotive, and allied trades. Built through U.S. Department of Labor grants.
skillscommons.org


UC Agriculture and Natural Resources 鈥 Research-based California agriculture publications, many free to use 鈥 directly relevant to Salinas Valley crops and production.
ucanr.edu


USDA National Agricultural Library 鈥 Public-domain agricultural data, images, and educational material.
nal.usda.gov


BCcampus & eCampusOntario Open Libraries 鈥 Reviewed open texts across business, trades, and applied programs.
open.bccampus.ca 路 openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca

How to Adopt or Adapt an OER

1
Find & evaluate. Search MERLOT, OpenStax, or LibreTexts. Check accuracy, reading level, and alignment to your SLOs.
2
Check the license. CC BY and CC BY-SA allow adaptation; CC BY-ND does not permit modifications.
3
Remix & customize. Use LibreTexts Bookshelves or Pressbooks to combine chapters and add your own content.
4
Publish in Canvas. Link or embed the final resource. Book a consultation for accessibility formatting.

Statewide & Campus Support

You are not doing this alone. California funds a statewide OER infrastructure, and Hartnell鈥檚 library is part of it.

Contact Us to Book a Consultation

Tammy BoatesOpen Educational Resources Liaison
Email:tboates@hartnell.edu