XB12: Instructional Material Cost

As of Summer 2024, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) will require all colleges to report the cost of course materials for each class section via the XB12 data element. This reporting is more robust, as there are now seven different codes which correspond to varying costs to students and copyright/licensing statuses.

To help students find classes, GCC will continue to list classes as Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) and Low Textbook Cost (LTC) in the Online Class Schedule based on the XB12 codes used for each course section. The corresponding class schedule designations for each code are indicated in the table below.

XB12 Data Element Codes & Definitions

XB12 Code	Definition	Examples	GCC Class Schedule Designation
A	Section has no associated course material	No readings used in the class section	Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC)
B	~~Not in use~~		–
C	Section has course material costs none of which are passed on to students	Classroom set of textbooks Library resources District software subscriptions	ZTC
D	Section has low course material costs ($40 or less)	Books cost a total of $40 or less at GCC Bookstore, based on new prices OER + $15 book listed at GCC Bookstore	Low Textbook Cost (LTC)
E	Section uses only no-cost, OER course material	OER is free material that is either 1) copyrighted and openly licensed or 2) no longer protected by copyright. Users are legally permitted to make copies of the material. This includes works... in the public domain with a Creative Commons license with a proprietary open license or terms of service that allows copying (e.g. PickPik)	ZTC
F	Section uses only no-cost digital course material that does not meet OER guidelines	Freely accessible, copyrighted material without an open license, such as: Instructor-created content that has not been released under an open license Newspaper articles found on the open web White papers and reports YouTube videos Freely accessible software (e.g. Duolingo)	ZTC
G	Section uses a mix of no-cost OER and other cost bearing resources, but no costs are passed to the student	Any combination of materials from codes C & E	ZTC
Y	Section does not meet no-cost or low-cost course material criteria	Commercial textbook costing more than $40 new at GCC Bookstore Combination of books costing more than $40 Textbook + homework system costing more than $40	–

Guidelines

The XB12 requirement applies both to credit and noncredit sections.
List only one code per course section.
All students in a class section must be able to access the assigned course materials simultaneously (i.e., 1-user ebooks cannot be used as required course materials).
Open educational resources (OER) are educational resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license, such as a Creative Commons license, that permits their free use and repurposing by others.

Determining cost

For the purpose of the XB12 data element, only the cost of required course textbooks (including lab manuals) and supplementary materials (including software and homework systems) are to be reported.
For class sections that require labs, the XB12 code should be determined based on the total cost of materials for the lecture and lab sections. List the same code for both the lecture and the lab.
For codes D & Y, cost should be determined based on the Buy New or Buy Digital price at the GCC Bookstore.

Changing XB12 codes post-registration

If, after registration begins, a course section is listed in the Online Class Schedule as zero textbook cost (ZTC; XB12 codes A, C, E, F, G) or low textbook cost (LTC; XB12 code D) and the instructor wants to change to a text that will cost more than originally advertised (i.e. going from ZTC-->LTC or removing ZTC/LTC completely), Curriculum will have to cancel the class and recreate it, as they do with day/time/modality/material fee changes.
On the other hand, if a class that was not listed as ZTC or LTC (XB12 code Y) is determined to be ZTC/LTC after registration begins, the notation can be added since it would only positively impact students.
If you're not sure whether a class will be ZTC or LTC before registration, list it using XB12 code Y.

Process to Mark Courses

Division Chairs receive rollover list as an Excel file from Curriculum department, including column listing XB12 codes.
Division Chairs work with division faculty to determine which code to list for each section.
Division Chairs list codes for each section in the XB12 column.
Division Chairs return Excel file to Curriculum department.

XB12 Infographics & Resources

XB12 Instructional Materials Cost Codes Presentation
Last updated: September 12, 2024
Horizontal infographic
Attribution: XB12 Codes Infographic by Caroline Hallam, Glendale Community College (CC BY 4.0)

Infographic source file (PowerPoint)
Attribution: XB12 Codes Infographic by Caroline Hallam, Glendale Community College (CC BY 4.0)

All icons used on this page sourced from Microsoft 365 or in the public domain.

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) at GCC

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