At UMass Amherst, we students are taking a stand towards the unnecessary expenses and encouraging professors to use materials — for example, Open Education Resources. These are resources that are free to use, digitally accessible and can be modified without any restrictions. Many classes are already taking advantage of these resources and helping students save money. In the last 10 years, UMass Amherst alone has been able to save students over $2.5 million on textbooks by replacing them with Open Education Resources — free digital textbooks that can be printed and modified with no copyright restrictions. Many of these resources currently exist and are already in use. With that, students are able to focus on studies, rather than worrying about selecting classes depending on the cost.
