GHC saves students $3.8 million with online textbooks

"Students at Georgia Highlands College have saved a small fortune on textbook costs — nearly $4 million.

By making free online textbooks available in certain classes, the college has saved students $3.8 million in expensive textbook costs over the last five semesters.  

Since fall 2015, GHC’s faculty has been working to expand the number of courses using open educational resources — free online textbooks and other educational materials that are accessible to anyone — each semester.

To date, OERs have saved GHC students $3,843,664 in textbook costs, with almost $500,000 of that savings coming in the first semester alone, according to a press release.

The total savings is based on the cost of a new textbook multiplied by the number of non-Move on When Ready students enrolled in courses offering OERs. Textbooks for MOWR students are provided by the program at no cost to them."