HEOA legislation requires titles, ISBNs, and retail pricing of all course materials to be published for students’ review prior to course registration. As soon as you receive your teaching assignment for the upcoming semester/term, please send your course material requests to the ISU Book Store.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) is federal legislation requiring titles, ISBNs, and retail pricing of all required and recommended course materials to be published for students’ review prior to course registration. To comply with this requirement, the Office of the Registrar, Information Technology, and the Iowa State University Book Store have developed systems to provide this information to students via the Schedule of Classes and their custom book list.

Faculty need to submit the course material requirements to their designated Department Academic Coordinator by the adoption deadline. Faculty can also input their course material requests through Verba Collect. Please include courses with no textbook requirements or courses using library materials.

If you are unsure of your department contact, view the list above. If you need assistance with Verba Collect, contact Emma Hartman at ehartman@iastate.edu.

Course materials are defined as textbooks/books, manuals, access codes, eBooks, courseware, programs, coursepackets, and supplies (design, lab, technology, etc.). And, anything else that is required for your students to obtain for class. This also includes any library materials that are used in the course, including Open Educational Resources and Course Reserves.

Yes! The ISU Book Store works together with the University Library to promote affordable course materials. The bookstore shares all the library resources requested with the University Library. This information helps us promote the importance of free and low-cost course materials and keep the cost affordable for students.

We recognize that there are a few situations where it may not be possible to have course materials information available by course registration: the instructor has not yet been assigned for a course, the course and/or textbook is new and still under development. For these situations, the HEOA legislation requires that textbook information be listed as “To Be Determined” until such time as the information is available. The ISU Book Store will continue to update the system with new information for courses after the initial deadline to provide students with the most accurate and up-to-date information possible. As soon as you receive your teaching assignment for the upcoming semester/term, please send your course material requests to the ISU Book Store.

For special course materials, arrangements, or negotiations with publishers, please contact the ISU Book Store to facilitate these transactions. Contracts with publishing companies and vendors (i.e., adaptive learning content, e-books) must be established through the Procurement Services to protect student information and ISU. For digital content adoptions, please see the ISU Digital Content Guidelines. Selling or facilitating course material transactions in the classroom or direct through a third-party provider is not allowed.

Yes! Many studio and lab classes do not have textbook course materials associated with their course but still require students to purchase specific materials for their classes. Art, office, or lab supply requests can be submitted with book adoptions or if no textbook is required for the course.
Visit Supply Lists page for more information.

Coursepackets are to be turned in to the ISU Book Store for production. A full coursepacket service is available on-campus through ISU Printing Services and ISU Book Store including copyright clearance, complimentary desk copies, and on-demand printing at the Innovation Center. Coursepackets will be available for students to purchase in the ISU Book Store along with all other course materials.
Visit Coursepackets page.

Please contact either your department coordinator or the book’s publisher to receive a desk copy.

Digital textbooks and courseware are delivered through Canvas. Print books will be available for students to pick-up at the Iowa State University Book Store. Open Educational Resources (OER) and Course Reserves are distributed by the University Library. To learn more, visit IA ONE Page

The Iowa State University Book Store is here to assist the faculty, students, and staff at Iowa State University. We are also here to assist student’s family and the Ames community.

We maintain the required database of information on all course materials including OER and “no text required.” Campus policy requires faculty and departments to identify what books and other course materials are required for their classes (or specify that a class will have no required materials) and submit this information to the ISU Book Store.

ALL items sold at the ISU Book Store are sales-tax free and course materials can be charged to the student U-Bill. Funds generated from purchases at the ISU Book Store stay on campus. Learn more from our Annual Report.