VCU and the 2021 Virginia Course Materials Survey

Authors

• Jessica Kirschner, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow

Abstract

In Fall 2021, VIVA, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium, distributed the Virginia Course Materials Survey to a selection of students at Virginia higher education institutions. The survey hoped to explore:

1. The relationship between educational equity and textbook costs, and

2. Which textbook features most benefited students’ learning experiences.

This report presents the results from this survey, focused on Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). At VCU, the survey was disseminated to a 20% random sample of students. 603 VCU responses were received (10% response rate). Due to the IRB approved protocols and efforts to maintain respondent anonymity, VCU data is only available on the summary level.

Included is an executive summary, full report, and data set for the VCU summary level data, available as percentages, and select student quotes from the free response on the impact of textbook costs on educational progress.

Accessibility Note

Content is digitally accessible 2026

Comments

To view the full survey, statewide findings, and corresponding analysis, visit the VIVA website.

The VCU and the 2025 Virginia Course Materials Survey is available.

Publication Date

2023

Keywords

Educational equalization -- Virginia, Textbook affordability, Course materials costs

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Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Document Type

Research Report

Recommended Citation

Kirschner, J. 2023. VCU and the 2021 Virginia Course Materials Survey. VCU Libraries. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/scholarship/3/