A closer look at the Z-degree

Z-Degree Report by Minnesota State

Over ten years ago, as rising costs increasingly made textbooks unaffordable for students, Minnesota State began exploring an emerging alternative: Open educational resources (OER), openly licensed or commonly licensed materials that faculty could make available to students at no cost.

As a first step, Minnesota State partnered with the University of Minnesota’s Open Education Network, which, along with other efforts, helped introduce faculty to OER possibilities.

Thanks to funding and support from the Minnesota Legislature, Minnesota State has been able to accelerate its efforts and increase its impact:

• In the 2024 academic year, the annual savings to students reached $3.1 million.
• Since the inception of Z-degrees at Minnesota State, the savings to over 126,000 students totals $12.6 million.
• Ten colleges offer Z-degrees, which allow students to complete an associate degree with zero textbook costs.
• The initiative is impacting the equity gap for students of color, first-generation students, and students who receive Pell Grants. Those categories of students took at least one Z-degree course at a slightly higher percentage than a comparable group of students.

When Minnesota West Community & Technical College received a grant to explore Z-degrees, Daniel Bernstrom joined his colleagues in an open educational resources (OER) learning circle, where they tackled the task of finding zero- or low-cost textbooks and course materials. 

“I was really excited about a Z-degree to help with the costs for students,” says Bernstrom, English faculty at Minnesota West, who wanted to move his composition courses to Z-degree courses. “That grant helped with some funding so I could dedicate more time to research what OER were, look at the books that were available, and then experiment.”

In the beginning, Bernstrom had difficulty identifying materials but found great value in working with other faculty in the OER learning circles, where faculty shared their experiences writing and modifying OER, developing assignments, and reshaping their courses. Faculty also welcomed experts to discuss topics such as copyrights and licensing. “With OER, you have to shape everything, the entire class changes, generally for the good,” he says. “We were really helping each other learn.” 

Interim Dean of Liberal Arts and K-12 Partnerships Kent Dahlman is excited to see the impact this is having for students at Minnesota West. “I am grateful for all of the work many of our faculty have done to implement OER into their courses. This really makes a difference for our students by offering great learning resources and saving them money.”

Bernstrom has maintained his involvement with Z-degrees after transitioning his last class to a Z-degree course by co-chairing the Z-degree implementation group and helping continue the college’s OER learning circle.
 
None of the success in establishing the associate of arts Z-degree would be possible without funding from the legislature and support from Minnesota State, he says, in large part because of the time that transforming the courses requires.
 
Bernstrom knows students appreciate the reduction in cost and has seen the value in his classes. “Students can start right away and I don’t fail as many students because they don’t have the book.”

Not only does OER help students, but it also opens the door for more collaboration among faculty, which encourages discussions about teaching strategies and the sharing of ideas, says Bernstrom. “It has had a massive effect on our college for the better.”