{"id":2730,"date":"2025-03-03T08:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T16:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=2730"},"modified":"2025-09-26T12:50:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T19:50:34","slug":"open-education-week-oer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/open-education-week-oer\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon State faculty\u2019s use of free textbooks generates millions in student savings"},"content":{"rendered":"
Editor’s note: <\/strong>This story was originally published on the Oregon State University Division of Educational Ventures news site<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n

Tuition costs are beyond the control of Oregon State University faculty members, but there is a proven way they can make student learning more affordable: by replacing expensive textbooks with free and affordable course materials.<\/p>\n

Since 2019, Oregon State students have saved more than $20 million thanks to OSU faculty <\/strong>who use free textbooks or other low-cost learning materials in their classes. These savings have a wide-ranging positive impact \u2014 increasing students\u2019 access to course content, reducing their time to degree completion and promoting overall academic success.<\/p>\n

The university\u2019s growing use of open educational resources is in the spotlight during Open Education Week<\/a>, which runs March 3-7. Open Education Week is an annual, online celebration to raise awareness of global efforts to make learning more affordable and accessible to students everywhere.<\/p>\n

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are freely available to students, teachers, researchers and the general public. Examples of OER include textbooks, course modules, lectures, digital learning objects, classroom activities and quizzes.<\/p>\n

Oregon State faculty, in partnership with the university\u2019s Open Educational Resources Unit<\/a>, have embraced the OER movement by broadly implementing low-cost or no-cost course materials \u2014 that is, materials that cost $40 or fewer. In academic year 2024, for example, 41% of all OSU course sections (offered on campus and online)<\/strong> required low-cost or no-cost textbooks or materials.<\/p>\n

These affordability measures impacted thousands of Oregon State students and resulted in savings of more than $8 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of commercial textbooks has been on the rise for many years,\u201d said Stefanie Buck, OSU\u2019s director of open educational resources. \u201cOur 2022 survey of Oregon State students<\/a> found that 61% of respondents didn\u2019t purchase a textbook because of costs<\/strong>. That means that students are coming to class unprepared or underprepared because they did not do the reading.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents appreciate that faculty who switch to OER are recognizing the financial hardships that many students face, and faculty are doing something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buck said students are often faced with difficult choices in order to afford textbooks. In their survey responses, some students said they may skip meals or must choose between paying rent or paying for class materials. The adoption of OER helps to mitigate these decisions.<\/p>\n

Oregon State faculty have authored nearly 60 open textbooks<\/a>. Buck and the OER Unit have seen 143 reported adoptions of OSU textbooks at many institutions<\/strong> including Montana State, Harvard, Boston University, State University of New York, Kansas State and Oxford University in England.<\/p>\n

These faculty members have the subject matter expertise and, often, real-world experience that makes them ideal candidates to author textbooks. That includes Marit Bovbjerg, an associate professor in the College of Health. Her open textbook, \u201cFoundations of Epidemiology<\/a>,\u201d was published in 2020 and has provided significant value to users worldwide.<\/p>\n

As a result, Bovbjerg won an\u00a0OER Champion Award<\/a>\u00a0from Open Oregon Educational Resources, a statewide organization that promotes the use of open source learning materials. She is such a proponent of OER that she uses only freely available materials in her classes.<\/p>\n

In addition to the upfront cost savings that makes the textbook immediately available to all students, she sees another reason to embrace OER.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also a bigger-picture benefit of not requiring people to pay for knowledge,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a big proponent of open access to information in general. Not everyone is in a privileged position. Open access materials help to democratize knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buck and the OER Unit are conducting another survey of Oregon State\u2019s undergraduate students this winter. The study will gather insights about how course material costs affect students\u2019 lives in order to help faculty continue implementing OER.<\/p>\n

Every March, Open Education Week gives educators and students an opportunity to learn more about open educational practices and gain inspiration from the work being developed around the world.<\/p>\n

Find more information about this year’s Open Education Week virtual events<\/a> online and register today.<\/p>\n

\n

Oregon State\u2019s Open Educational Resources Unit is a part of the <\/em>Division of Educational Ventures<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Editor’s note: This story was originally published on the Oregon State University Division of Educational Ventures news site. Tuition costs are beyond the control of Oregon State University faculty members, but there is a proven way they can make student learning more affordable: by replacing expensive textbooks with free and affordable course materials. Since 2019, … Oregon State faculty\u2019s use of free textbooks generates millions in student savings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,13,702,675],"tags":[662,664],"class_list":["post-2730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-oer","category-educational-ventures","category-accessing-college","tag-division-of-educational-ventures","tag-featured-division-of-educational-ventures"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-I2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1977,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/textbooks-expensive-affordable-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":2730,"position":0},"title":"Textbooks are way too expensive. Oregon State is saving students millions.","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"March 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"College textbooks are way too expensive, and Oregon State \u2014 with its faculty leading the way \u2014\u00a0is on a mission to make college more affordable and accessible for students. With the support of the OSU\u00a0Open Educational Resources Unit, an increasing number of OSU instructors are adopting, adapting and authoring no-cost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ecampus student Karen Baek sits at a laptop in an OSU building. 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OER Commons\u00a0is a freely accessible, online library that invites educators and students at Oregon State and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A person working on a laptop with a geographic map on the screen, alongside an open textbook titled \"Getting Organized.\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/open-access-textbook.jpg?fit=800%2C470&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2287,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/how-the-affordable-learning-grant-supports-faculty\/","url_meta":{"origin":2730,"position":2},"title":"Liberating course materials from the textbook industry","author":"Elena Moffet","date":"June 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Whether you\u2019re struggling to find a suitable textbook for your course or want to remove learning barriers for your students, there has never been a better time to explore the world of open educational resources.\u00a0Oregon State associate professor John Lambrinos shares why and relates his experience.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Valley Library on the Oregon State University campus, a large red\u2011brick, multi\u2011story building with tall windows, centered entrance, and a glass upper section, set behind a green lawn with benches and trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/4172-Campus-0775-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1421,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/oer-team\/","url_meta":{"origin":2730,"position":3},"title":"Meet Oregon State\u2019s open educational resources team","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Making high-quality education more affordable for students is a critical priority at Oregon State. That\u2019s the mission that drives OSU\u2019s Open Educational Resources Unit. 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