Tuition increases are based primarily on CSU’s basic operating costs that go up each year, such as utilities, insurance, supplies, etc. We’re also investing in better services and facilities for our students – such as the renovations to the student center that have been asked for by our students, staff, and faculty. It will provide more gathering areas for our students. Books are a small part of the increase.

The OneFee model fulfills orders with a mixture of physical and digital items, with the system determining which format to fulfill the order based on the better price point as well as availability and timing of enrollment.

The Print Upgrade preference allows for a student who is adverse to receiving digital books to avoid getting digital, unless a digital only item has been adopted. That Print Upgrade preference tells the system that it does not matter if the digital is the better price point and to fulfill it with physical regardless. Should digital be an option, and at a better price point, and the student has opted to receive print copy only, the cost is $9.99 per credit hour (NOT per book). So for a 3-credit hour course, that student would pay at the most $29.97 total for all books (whether it’s 2 or 10). Selecting this option does apply it to all courses that semester, but each course is different dependent on the books offered. 

Many of our Gen Z students prefer digital when it’s available; however, others still enjoy a good hard copy book and can set their preferences as such.

Much like the stock market, the price of books rises and falls based on supply and demand. Using proprietary software, the company buys books in bulk when they’re the cheapest (months before the semester begins). In addition, they exploit their massive buying power to purchase books from publishers at prices well below what an individual could find on their own. In almost every case, students will save significant money overall as a result of our new partnership with Tree of Life.

Any student may opt out of this program; however, tuition will remain the same.

In Tree of Life’s long history, only a handful of students decide to opt out once they factor in the general cost savings, the convenience of having books delivered to their door in a single package, and the added benefit to student learning of ensuring that every student in every class will have every book they need to succeed from the first day of class.

Books are included in tuition for all undergraduate students! This also applies to all graduates and online programs, with the exception of the Physician Assistant Program, 10-month accelerated MBA, Master of Education Program, and employees on tuition grant.