Starting in Fall 2020, VCU has begun indicating which classes use low- and no-cost course materials in the Schedule of Classes.
"Marking" this information in the schedule of classes allows students to search for or select classes which use affordable course materials. In other words, if you want to select classes based on how much you'll have to pay for textbooks, now you can do that.
In the VCU Schedule of Courses, classes using affordable course content can be marked as no cost materials or low cost materials.
Courses that are marked as no cost materials will require students to spend $0 for course materials beyond standard course fees (e.g. lab fee).
At VCU, courses can be marked as low cost materials if the total cost of all course materials is $40 or less. So, a class that has two $25 books would not qualify, but one that has one $40 book would.
The prices are calculated "from the pre-tax price at the university bookstores of the least expensive purchase option—whether new, used or rental—for which the university bookstores are able to obtain sufficient stock for all enrollments" (VCU Textbook Adoptions and Sales Policy).
Low- and no-cost course materials are marked as an "attribute" of a class. In the search results, attribute is the last column:
The attributes for classes using affordable course content are no cost materials or low cost materials.
If you know that textbook costs will influence your course decisions, you can organize your search to only include classes marked with the low- and no-cost course materials attribute.
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