CA AB403

Establishes the Fair Access to College Textbooks Act prohibiting California Community Colleges, California State University, independent institutions, and private postsecondary institutions from assessing automatic charges for instructional materials to students without meeting specific conditions.

Requires automatic charges for instructional materials to be less than the price students could acquire the same materials from other sources, made available by the first day of term, and require student opt-in consent.

Mandates full disclosure of automatic charge amounts in the institution's online course schedule, listed separately from other course charges.

Applies to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2022, and requests (but does not require) University of California campuses to comply.

Defines instructional materials broadly to include textbooks, digital content, software, streaming videos, and other educational resources in any medium.