04/14/2026
By Julie Nash and Donna Mellen
We are pleased to announce that no-cost and low-cost course marking attributes have been added to the Student Information System (SIS) in time for summer/trimester and fall 2026 student registration. The course attributes can be filtered at the section level to indicate if the textbook costs of their courses are either:
- No-cost ($0) course materials attribute
- Low-cost ($50 or less) course materials attribute
Students will be able to filter for courses that have No Cost and Low Cost course materials during registration. This initiative supports transparency and affordability, and it’s a priority for our students. While it’s part of a statewide mandate from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, it’s also strongly backed by our Student Government Association and MASSPIRG, who has led this charge.
This data will be reported to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education on an annual basis. At UMass Lowell, many of our faculty have been using no and low cost textbooks for years. Adding these course markings in SIS will help students make informed decisions during registration. The OER Task force --including members from the Provost’s Office, faculty, Registrar, Academic Technology, University Relations, MarCom, Library, Data Analytics & Institutional Research (DAIR), Administrative Services, Bookstore, and Student Government Association (SGA) -- have been working to advance this initiative for several years.
This job aid (pdf) provides instructions for students on how to search for no and low cost course material attributes in SIS.
Students should continue to seek financial aid and bookstore vouchers to assist with the costs of textbooks.
We encourage students to do their own research on textbook costs through the Bookstore website.
Please email OER@uml.edu if you have questions.