Reducing textbooks costs through OER adoption | William & Mary Libraries

"Did you know that the average student attending a Virginia public institution of higher education needs to budget approximately $1,300 dollars per year for textbook and course materials? With the increasing costs of higher education on the minds of many, open educational resources are becoming a topic of discussion at universities across the nation. Since 1980 the cost of textbooks has increased at three to four times the rate of inflation. All the while tuition prices have risen as states decrease funding to public colleges and universities. Currently, the average student in a Virginia public 4-year institution takes out over $26,000 in loans to pay for their education. According to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, the cost barrier kept 2.4 million low and moderate-income college-qualified American high school graduates from completing college in the last decade. It’s for this reason that many institutions are now focusing on Open Educational Resources or OER’s."