Ocean County College is always looking for ways to make our students’ lives easier. Recently, we made some significant changes to the way you pay for tuition, fees, and books. We are bundling books and electronic course materials, as well as college and student fees, into the total cost of tuition. Not only will you no longer pay for books separately, the Student Fee, Tech Fee, IMAT, and registration fee have all been eliminated!
Our new tuition structure will save you a significant amount of time, money, and energy. You no longer need to search for and purchase course materials; we will do it for you. You will get the exact books you need, when you need them, as determined by our faculty. Barnes & Noble will work closely with us to provide a low-cost version of the book for each course. For some courses that will mean book rentals, and for others, e-books. Faculty members will be informed of the version provided for their courses, and e-learning courses will, as always, be furnished with electronic materials in Canvas.
By rolling books into your tuition, you will save money. In the fall of 2019, the average full- time OCC student taking 15 credits paid between $563.25 and $677.38 for books and electronic course material. Under the new model, you will pay $298 — a savings of more than 50%. The cost of books will be rolled into tuition, so you will not have to pay a separate fee. Bundling books into tuition can also benefit you in the form of a boost to your financial aid. If you are a NJ STARS student, or receive other forms of tuition support that cover tuition but not fees, our new tuition structure may further reduce your out-of-pocket costs.
This new approach also ensures you will have the adopted book or material available to you on the first day of class. Having all your textbooks on day one will improve your academic experience and allow faculty to set the pace of the course knowing that all students have the required materials ready to go.
You will benefit from the increased transparency and simplicity of your bills as well. By bundling course books, materials, and most fees into tuition, OCC is making it easier for you to quickly understand the real price you are paying for a college education.
The First Day® Complete Program will make it easy to order all of your textbooks and course materials in one convenient place! To participate in this program all you need to do is register for your fall classes. Then, look for an email detailing how to order your books and course materials, which are now included in your tuition. Your books will ship right to your home for the start of the fall semester!
Frequently Asked Questions
First Day® Complete is a text book and course material delivery program that ensures students have their required course materials on the first day of class. The cost of books and course materials is now included in tuition.
- Register for your classes and the bookstore will start preparing your course materials
- One month before classes start, you will receive an email instructing you to confirm your schedule and enter your shipping information.
- An email notification will be sent when your order is shipped
- Your digital course materials will be delivered in Canvas.
The program is available to all students registered for Ocean County College courses. It does not include Kean Ocean or Workforce & Professional Education classes.
The program provides all required textbooks, lab manuals, access codes and digital textbooks.
The program does not include consumables that cannot be returned and reused such as lab goggles, dissection kits, calculators, lab paqs, and nursing uniforms.
This program is built into your cost of tuition, there are no additional fees to pay.
Absolutely. If you have financial aid funds available they can be used in the bookstore either in store or on the website.
Whenever a student makes a change to their schedule, they receive an email from us the next day with an action to take. If they withdrawal from a course and it has physical materials, they’ll be directed to return those materials to the bookstore. If they are adding a class, they’ll be directed to confirm their materials for the new course.