FY18 OPEN TEXTBOOKS PROGRAM APPROPRIATION: THE NEXT STEP TOWARD TEXTBOOK AFFORDABILITY - Kaitlyn Vitez, USPIRG

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