Open Educational Resources and Zero Textbook Costs (ZTC Courses)

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and repurposing by others. OER can include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge.

Utilization of OER allows academics, experts, and content developers to create and disseminate low or no-cost educational materials to students. Thomas Edison State University actively supports the use of OER across various credit earning options, including preparation materials for many TECEP Examinations, our OER-based 30-credit First Year Foundations Certificate (which satisfies much of the general education requirements for most degree programs), and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Courses.

The University features numerous ZTC courses comprised entirely of expertly curated OER and other high-quality no-cost learning materials, and we are adding more every year. Please see the ZTC section on the University website for the most up-to-date information at ZTC Courses.