Tanya Grosz, University of Northwestern St. Paul – Open Textbooks

"On Part 1 of our Series on the Cost of Textbooks: Should textbooks go digital?

Tanya Grosz, assistant professor of English at the University of Northwestern St. Paul, explores how open textbooks can help students make their dollar go farther. ​​Tanya Grosz earned her Ph.D. from Northcentral University in Education with an emphasis in E-Learning and Teaching Online. Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Grosz was a high school English teacher and has continued to teach literature online at the college level for many years. She became an active proponent of OER after connecting with the Open Textbook Network and implementing an open textbook initiative on Northwestern’s campus, resulting in 50 open textbook adoptions and the first Zero-cost textbook degree in Minnesota. She currently serves on the Open Textbook Network’s steering committee.

The average student loan borrower owes more than $30,100. According to researcher Sara Goldrick-Rab, “In 1990, only the poorest quarter of American families had to pay much more than 20 percent of their annual income for higher education. Today, 75% of families pay at least that much—after all grants are distributed!” Today, the maximum Pell grant covers less than one-third of the cost of attending a public college and 60% of the cost of attending a community college...."