OER and Total Cost of Attendance | Confessions of a Community College Dean

"So here’s the plan.  If we get critical mass of sections using OER, and we can quantify the typical savings to students in some sort of credible way, I’d like to go to the Board with the following argument:

If we raise tuition $5 a credit, a student taking 30 credits pays an extra $150 a year. But if we’re using OER in enough places that the student is saving $500 a year on books, she’s still coming out ahead. And the college is getting some much-needed revenue. The only loser here is the commercial textbook industry, which, frankly, isn’t our problem. 

In essence, it’s a redirection and splitting of revenue. It directs revenue away from commercial publishers, and towards the college and the students.  Students would have a lower total cost of attendance, and the college would gain more revenue. Over time, increased retention from having every student able to get the books from day one would add another layer of revenue."