College Course Materials Affordability and Equitable Access Collaborative Study Act and Task Force – "CCM Task Force"

Illinois College Course Materials Affordability and Equitable Access Collaborative Study (FINAL) – March 1, 2023

Background: Enacted in the summer of 2021, Public Act 102-0122 created the College Course Materials Affordability and Equitable Access Collaborative Study Act. The Act required that a college course materials (CCM) task force be formed, staffed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). ISAC was directed to call the initial CCM Task Force meeting, during which a chairperson was chosen from the task force members. The chairperson called all subsequent meetings, and ISAC staff provided administrative, technical, policy, and other support.

Purpose: The purpose of the CCM Task Force was to conduct "a collaborative college course materials affordability and equitable access study." Specifically, the task force was to examine "the cost-saving methods and practices utilized by public and private institutions of higher learning in this State and throughout the United States for improving students' equitable first-day-of-class access to required course materials and conduct an affordability comparison of providing students' course materials, including digital learning tools."

Draft findings of the study and task force were required to be reported to the Governor, General Assembly, and ISAC by October 1, 2022. After a public review period, a final report was due to those same parties no later than March 31, 2023.