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Instructional Material Fees

Fee Amount

Education Code section 76365 allows districts to require students to provide various types of instructional materials and enables districts to sell such materials to students who wish to purchase them from the district/college. However, there are strict limitations on charging a required Materials Fee:

Required instructional materials must be of continuing value to students outside of the classroom and shall not be solely or exclusively available from the District. The Chancellor’s Office has determined that such materials include, but are not limited to: equipment, tools, clothing, and materials necessary for a student’s vocational training and employment.
Required instructional materials shall not include materials used or designed primarily for administrative purposes, class management, course management, or supervision.
Where instructional materials are available to a student temporarily through a license or access fee, the student shall be provided options at the time of purchase to maintain full access to the instructional materials for varying periods of time ranging from the length of the class up to at least two years.
The required instructional materials must be necessary in order for a specific course objective(s) to be met.

NOTE:

There may be situations when the purchase of the supplies individually by students is not practical, safe, or affordable, and it is therefore better for the District to provide the instructional materials by attaching a Materials Fee to the course. For example, many supplies used in studio art courses (e.g. paint solvent, ceramic glaze, etc.) are best paid for as a Materials Fee, and distributed by the instructor for use in the classroom.

Fee Requirements

Students should be clearly advised when they have the option of providing their own materials or of purchasing those materials at the listed price from the District.
You must specify a fixed amount (not a range) for the Materials Fee. This amount must be spent fully on materials for students in the course during the semester. No other use of the funds is permitted.
If you need to change a Materials Fee, you must submit a Modified Course Proposal.
Materials Fees are determined by a faculty member in consultation with the Dean. If a fee is required, the Instruction Office will include it in the catalog course description. Students pay the fee when they register.
The Materials Fee must align with specific course objective(s), and the fee may not be charged unless the material is necessary to assure that students achieve that/those objective(s).
The fee amount must be specified in the “Fee Amount” field, and a justification provided in the “Fee Justification” field. (For more information, see the help screen for “Fee Justification.”)

For additional information regarding Materials Fees, see District Administrative Procedure 8.70.2 Instructional Materials Fees.

Fee Justification

Explain what the fee is for and how it will be used by answering the following questions:

What does the student get for the fee? What material does the student need?
How does this material relate to the required learning objectives of the course? The materials fee must align with a specific course objective and the fee may not be charged unless the material is necessary to assure the student meets that objective.
Does the material have continuing value outside the classroom?
Is the amount of material the students must supply, or the amount they receive in exchange for the fee, consistent with the amount of material necessary to meet the required objectives of the course?
If the district charges a fee rather than having students furnish the materials, why do the students have to pay a fee to the district rather than supply the materials themselves? (The emphasis should be on the impracticality of having students purchase the materials individually. The primary reasons are usually cost, use, and safety.) Is the district the only source of the materials? If not, is there some health or safety reason for the district to supply the materials? If not, will the district supply the material more cheaply than if the material is obtained elsewhere?