Affordable UF

Overview

Did you know? In the 2025-26 academic year, the estimated cost of books and supplies for UF undergraduates was $1,235. These high textbook prices do more than hurt students’ wallets; they also negatively impact student success. In a 2022 survey, more than 13,000 students from across Florida revealed how they cope with the rising cost of textbooks.

Our Goal

The purpose of the Affordable UF initiative is to increase student learning and success by providing affordable access to education. In order to ensure that every student at the University of Florida has access to quality, reasonably priced course materials, the Affordable UF initiative raises awareness of textbook affordability issues on campus and provides support and guidance to members of the UF community seeking to make their courses more affordable.

Affordable UF Badges

Overview

Courses using materials costing $20 or less per credit hour are eligible to receive the Affordable UF Badge. The badge allows students to easily identify courses with low- or no-cost materials.

How to Participate

Submit your textbook adoption at the UF Textbook Adoption website to be eligible for the badge.
If you think your adoption meets the $20 per credit hour threshold, enter your estimated textbook costs in the “Affordable UF” section at the end of the textbook adoption form, and click “next.”
After you submit your textbook adoption, the Center for Teaching Excellence will review your course.
If your course is eligible to receive the Affordable UF and/or ZTC badge, you will be sent a digital copy of the designation. Students will see the badge in the course textbook requirements when registering. Your badge can also be displayed in many other places, including:

Your syllabus
Your Canvas site
Your email signature line
Digital resumes/CVs
Social media
Your website

ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) Badge

Overview

UF’s ZTC program is part of a broader state initiative coordinated by the Florida Virtual Campus to recognize statewide courses with zero textbook cost. ZTC courses can provide the maximum value to students while providing a high-quality educational experience. Students tend to rate ZTC materials highly (Albert, Redcay, & Pfannestiel, 2021).

The ZTC badge recognizes sections of courses that go above and beyond in affordability by having no other costs beyond tuition and fees for the course. Such courses may rely on open educational resources, library resources, or academic articles to provide students with an affordable yet academically rigorous learning experience.

To be eligible for the ZTC badge, the course must not require the student to make any additional purchases for the class (not including incidental supplies such as pens/paper and exam books that would be common to any course taken at UF). Recommended/optional supplies and “material and supply” (M&S) fees are not considered. To assist with ZTC consideration, please be as specific as possible in the notes section of your textbook adoption as to what non-text materials are required for purchase versus what is provided by the instructor or materials that are merely recommended/optional.

Eligibility for the ZTC Badge

Eligibility for the UF ZTC badge conforms to FLVC’s definition; however, UF goes beyond the FLVC definition by taking into account any materials the student is required to purchase independently that are not a common educational supply (e.g., pens, paper, notebooks, calculators, exam books, basic safety goggles, etc.). This includes access to external learning platforms, required membership fees to professional organizations, specialist lab equipment, and software.

An eligible section must not require the student to pay for any materials or supplies beyond the following:

Tuition and fees
Material and supply fees or lab fees assessed as part of the student’s tuition and fees
Technology as part of Student Computing Requirements (UF Policy 12-030)
Common educational supplies (e.g., pens, paper, notebooks, calculators, exam books, basic safety goggles, etc.)

Any requirement for students to purchase access to an external learning platform, membership fees to a professional organization, specialist lab equipment, and the like may render a course section ineligible for the ZTC badge but still eligible for the Affordable UF badge if the cost is at or under the $20/credit hour threshold.

When considering whether a required material is a common educational supply, the Textbook Affordability team will assess whether a typical student would naturally expect to purchase the supply on their own for the course, even if not explicitly instructed to do so (e.g., purchasing a calculator for a mathematics course). If software is required for a course, the Textbook Affordability Coordinator will consider whether it is provided to students free of charge via UF Apps or other UF resources. If a material was expected to be purchased for a previous course in a sequence and then used again in a later course, noting that will be helpful in making the ZTC determination.

Suggestions to Make Your Course ZTC Eligible

Reducing Material Costs

We encourage lab material expenses to be assessed through material and supply fees to leverage the economy-of-scale of bulk ordering available to UF. This will help students understand upfront costs without affecting ZTC eligibility and eliminate the need for students to obtain materials independently. This will also ensure that students are provided with the correct equipment.
If your course requires software, choose free or open source options, or select software that is available through UF Apps. You may suggest paid apps while providing free alternatives.

Reducing Textbook Costs

Adopt open educational resources that can be used without cost to students.
Select items that are free for students from the Spectrum of Open model
Any materials in the public domain or licensed under Creative Commons or a similar licensing scheme
Open Access articles and books
Copyrighted materials that are publicly available/accessible
Content licensed from the UF Libraries
Copyrighted material that allows for educational use
Copyrighted material that can be used under fair use rules (we recommend that you seek advice from the UF Libraries before using a material under fair use)
Copyrighted material in which you have gotten explicit written permission from the copyright holder

Frequently Asked Questions

Where did the $20 per credit hour figure come from?

The $20 per credit hour benchmark was set by the State University System of Florida in the 2019 Action Plan for the Pricing of Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials PDF.

How is the amount per credit hour calculated?

When calculating the price per credit hour, we use the price of a new print textbook purchased from the UF Bookstore, unless the instructor has indicated during the textbook adoption process that they require a different version (UF All Access, an older edition, ebook only, available for free, etc.). The total required textbook price is then divided by the number of credit hours in the course (total cost of required textbooks/course credit hours = price per credit hour).

Are lab fees or materials and supply fees included in the textbook affordability calculation?

No. Fees assessed during course registration are not included when calculating the price per credit hour.

Can I mix and match resources?

Yes. Course materials can be derived from multiple sources as long as the total cost of purchase is $20 or less per credit hour.

I was awarded an Affordable UF Badge, but I don’t see it in the UF Schedule of Courses. Where is it?

Click the “textbooks” link for your section and look at the upper-right corner of the screen. If you don’t see the badge(s), then contact CTE.

I told my students to buy a cheap version of the required textbook from an online vendor. Why aren’t my materials considered affordable?

When determining whether or not a course is affordable, we use the price of a new, print textbook purchased from the UF Bookstore unless the instructor has indicated during the textbook adoption process that they require a different version (UF All Access, older edition needed, ebook only, etc). While materials may be less expensive from online vendors, many students rely on having access to a financial aid voucher that may be used at the UF Bookstore prior to the release of financial aid funds. Using the new, print cost also establishes a stable benchmark for state reporting purposes.

My course materials are over the $20 per credit hour threshold by just a few cents. Why can’t it be considered affordable?

The $20 threshold was established by the Florida Board of Governors and adopted as the standard across the state. This figure cannot be changed, however, there are circumstances that may mitigate the cost of your course materials:

The textbook is purchased for a sequence of courses- it only needs to be purchased once and will be used for two or more courses within a degree program.
Your textbook adoption was processed incorrectly.
Your course materials are freely accessible to students at the UF Libraries.
Your materials are free online.

If there are no mitigating circumstances but you would still like to explore making your courses more affordable, please consider scheduling a consultation with the Course Materials team.

I told my students to obtain a rental copy of their materials. Why aren’t rented textbooks considered affordable?

The cost of textbook rentals is not included in the affordability determination due to potential issues of availability. Also, by considering the purchase price rather than the rental price, we work to ensure that students have access to any content they may need in preparation for program admission exams, exit exams, certification and licensure exams, etc. Similarly, digital content must remain available through students’ time at the university to be eligible for the Affordable UF badge.

I don’t remember applying for this badge. How can I ensure that I am not contacted in the future?

When you (or a proxy from your department) submits your textbook adoption, you have the option to apply for the Affordable UF Badge while completing your textbook adoption form. If you’d like to opt out of the Affordable UF Badge initiative in the future, simply bypass the application by not filling it out.

Is this program mandatory? Am I required to apply for an Affordable UF Badge?

No. Participation in this program is completely voluntary. If you don’t want to participate, simply skip the application when you submit your textbook adoption.

Where can I get help with finding affordable course content?

Schedule a consultation with the CTE team, or check out these resources for instructors.

Does my Affordable UF Badge designation roll over to subsequent semesters?

No. You must apply for the badge every semester.

What other reasons could cause my Affordable UF Badge application to be denied?

If a text is marked as required but you do not provide a price (and the text is not indicated as free on the web or available through the UF Libraries), we will deny the badge application.
You indicated that a text is available through the UF Libraries, but we determined that the text was not available.
You indicated that a text is available for free through the web, but did not provide a link or instructions on how to access the text (such as available through Canvas).
You inadvertently marked texts as “required” instead of “recommended” or “optional,” which increased the cost per credit hour to over $20.

Courses with Affordable UF Badges

Citations

Albert, D. R., Redcay, A., & Pfannenstiel, A. N. (2021). The impact of typical textbook behaviors on satisfaction with zero textbook cost materials. The International Journal of Open Educational Resources, 4(1).