FY18 Open Textbooks Program Appropriation: the next step toward textbook affordability | U.S. PIRG

ab1630's bookmarks 2018-03-22

Summary:

"“A college degree is essential these days, but I can’t get it if I don’t have the books I need to actually succeed in class,” Walter Dodson, a student at the University of Connecticut, told me. “I’m shocked at how expensive college is right now. I can’t imagine how ridiculous it will be in twenty years.” Walter’s story isn’t unique. Two-thirds of students have skipped buying books because of the high out-of-pocket cost beyond the set price of tuition. But students who don’t buy books repeatedly say they find themselves at a disadvantage in the classroom. With Americans paying off more than $1.4 trillion in student debt, we need to find ways to cut costs so that these students can graduate on time and start paying off those loans, rather than accumulating more debt. In today’s long-overdue budget bill, Congress set aside $5 million for open textbook initiatives nationwide, which would replace high-cost publisher materials with free materials that can be accessed online or downloaded. The move could save students more than $50 million -- an important step toward alleviating the huge burden of paying for college. In such a long and contentious budget cycle, how did we pull it off? Three weeks ago, students -- those millennials who allegedly lack initiative -- asked for it themselves.

They weren’t alone in this effort. For years, U.S PIRG and our allies- especially librarians and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)- have been working to raise visibility for the huge savings that open textbooks promise students. Our research over the years has shown that students routinely skip buying textbooks, and that openly-licensed, freely- available educational resources can (and have) saved students millions. Additional research has shown that open textbooks help students do better in class and graduate on time. To that end, we joined Sen. Durbin to introduce the Affordable College Textbook Act, which set the right tone to address skyrocketing textbook costs.

In the meantime, students and their allies on campuses have continued their advocacy on the local level. In places such as West Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, and Oregon, activists and student government leaders have worked with librarians, administrators,  and faculty to create institutional grant programs that support instructors as they transition their courses to open textbooks. These local programs routinely save students more than a million dollars in their first few years.

Students took these successes to Capitol Hill to speak directly to legislators about how essential these programs are in their pursuit of a degree and to ask for an open textbooks appropriation. Since then, they’ve made hundreds of calls in to key committee chairs and party leadership, and more than 50 student government leaders signed onto a letter to Congress. Beyond that, more than 60 campus libraries sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for action, while students and administrations weighed in in person with legislative staff in meetings to support open textbooks...."

Link:

https://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/fy18-open-textbooks-program-appropriation-next-step-toward-textbook-affordability

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » ab1630's bookmarks

Tags:

oa.new oa.usa oa.oer oa.textbooks oa.courseware oa.education oa.faculty oa.students oa.prices oa.access oa.advocacy oa.legislation oa.government oa.funders.public oa.policies.funders oa.policies oa.books oa.funders

Date tagged:

03/22/2018, 15:05

Date published:

03/22/2018, 11:05