ROCHESTER, Minn. — Rochester Community and Technical College plans to offer courses for which students won’t need to buy textbooks or other course materials. There will be enough such courses to cobble together a liberal arts degree, the college said. It’s called a Z-Degree, which is suddenly trendy at colleges struggling to maintain enrollments. For Z-courses, students use open educational resources, free online textbooks, and library-curated materials. Courses aren’t cost-free, however. There is still tuition and the usual fees. Eleven other Minnesota System colleges and universities also are moving ahead with Z-Degree options. Textbooks and materials fortypiva traditional college courses range around $1,200 and $1,400 a year.
