Help Lower Textbook Costs for Students

Are you an instructor who is concerned about the impact of high textbook costs on your students? Explore possible open textbook solutions by attending a workshop and writing a short textbook review. 

Did You Know...

• The high cost of some course materials can impede students’ academic success.


• The College Board estimates that the average undergraduate can budget $1,220 - $1,420 for textbooks and supplies in 2017–18.


• The cost of textbooks is rising at a rate of 4 times inflation.


• Seven out of 10 students don’t purchase a required textbook during their academic career because of cost.


• 60% of students have delayed purchasing textbooks until they’ve received their financial aid.

Open Textbooks

Open textbooks can help alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provide faculty with content that can be customized for their course. Open textbooks are full, real textbooks, used by many faculty across the country, and licensed to be freely used, edited, and distributed.

What You Can Do

Attend the Open Textbook Workshop — a session where you can discover open textbooks in your field. After the workshop, you’ll be asked, but not required, to write a short review of an open textbook from the Open Textbook Library. Your review will benefit other faculty considering open textbooks.