Help Lower Textbook Costs and Improve Learning for Students

Are you an instructor who is concerned about the impact of high textbook costs on your students? Do you feel that your course materials aren’t as inclusive as they should be? Explore possible open textbook solutions by attending this workshop and writing a short textbook review.

Did You Know...

• The high cost of some course materials can impede students’ academic success, and 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.
• Racially minoritized and first-generation students at four-year institutions are less inclined to feel the same sense of belonging compared to their peers.

Open Textbooks

Open textbooks can help alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provide faculty with content that can be customized to make learning more equitable and inclusive. 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

 After the workshop, you’ll be eligible to apply for UNE OER mini-grant opportunities to 1) write a short review of an open textbook from the Open Textbook Library  or 2) adopt or/creat an OER for courses you teach.