One of the biggest reasons for students to push for open access resources is to ease financial constraints that many face with course materials. This also applies for students who plan to be involved in research in the future and will need to interact with journals and previously published manuscripts. With many students already dreading paying back student loans, open access resources are used to lighten the financial burden.
http://www.brockpress.com/2018/10/open-access-week-on-campus-and-resource-accessibility/