Affordability is considered a key predictor of college enrollment and academic success, yet higher education costs continue to rise. Over the past three decades, textbooks and course materials alone have increased almost three times the rate of inflation (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). To identify the extent to which course material costs create barriers for community college students, and whether these costs foster inequities for students in traditionally underserved and underrepresented populations, a cross-sectional survey research study was conducted fall 2019 amongst students enrolled in community colleges across the Tennessee Board of Regents system (N = 88,946, n = 1,912). The survey covered course material purchase behaviors, decisions, and experiences related to academic achievement and progress to graduation. Results showed nearly two-thirds of students (68.6%) have delayed purchasing a textbook due to cost. Almost half (41.3%) reported not purchasing required materials, 15.8% reported earning poor grades, and 3.3% reported having failed a course because they could not afford the materials. Logistic regressions were employed to determine whether these extents were disproportionately experienced by non-White, low income, and/or Adult Learners over age 25. Statistically significant differences in academic achievement barriers were found for low income students, alongside significant progress to graduation barriers for non-Adult Learners, suggesting younger learners are more susceptible to the consequences of course material costs. These findings inform policy efforts by helping educational leaders better understand the impacts of course material costs on the ability of community college students to achieve in coursework and progress to graduation.

负担能力被认为是大学入学率和学业成功的关键预测因素，但高等教育成本继续上升。在过去的 30 年中，仅教科书和课程材料的通货膨胀率就增加了近三倍（美国劳工统计局，2016 年）。为了确定课程材料成本对社区大学学生造成障碍的程度，以及这些成本是否会为传统上服务不足和代表性不足的人群中的学生带来不平等，我们于 2019 年秋季在全美社区大学就读学生中进行了一项横断面调查研究。田纳西州董事会系统（N = 88,946，n = 1,912）。该调查涵盖了与学业成绩和毕业进度相关的课程材料购买行为、决定和经验。结果显示，近三分之二的学生 (68.6%) 由于成本原因推迟购买教科书。近一半 (41.3%) 报告未购买所需材料，15.8% 报告成绩不佳，3.3% 报告因买不起材料而未能通过课程。使用逻辑回归来确定 25 岁以上的非白人、低收入和/或成人学习者是否不成比例地经历了这些程度。发现低收入学生在学业成就障碍方面存在统计学显着差异，同时在毕业障碍方面取得显着进展非成人学习者，这表明年轻的学习者更容易受到课程材料成本的影响。