The Affordable College Textbook Act aims to lower the cost of college textbooks for students by expanding the use of open educational resources and increasing transparency in textbook pricing.
Joe Neguse
Representative
CO-2
The Affordable College Textbook Act aims to lower the cost of college textbooks for students by expanding the use of open educational resources and increasing transparency in textbook pricing. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to higher education institutions to create and expand the use of open textbooks. It also requires colleges and universities to disclose textbook price information, including whether materials are open educational resources, on online course schedules. Additionally, the bill directs the Comptroller General to report on textbook costs and the impact of open textbooks.
Free Textbooks on the Horizon? New Bill Could Slash College Costs
The "Affordable College Textbook Act" aims to make college more affordable by tackling the insane cost of textbooks. It's pushing for wider use of "open educational resources" – basically, free, openly licensed textbooks and materials.
Ditching the Price Tag
The bill sets up a grant program where colleges and universities can get funding to create and use these free resources. Think of it like this: instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars each semester for books, students could access quality materials online, for free. Section 3 of the bill lays out the specifics, focusing on creating high-quality, adaptable open textbooks, especially for those big intro classes everyone takes.
Know Before You Owe (and Click)
This bill isn't just about free stuff; it's also about transparency. Section 4 updates existing rules, requiring schools to be upfront about textbook costs and how publishers use student data, especially for any digital course content. Colleges will need to list the ISBN (that barcode number), price, and any fees for required materials right on the course schedule. Plus, they have to tell you if a book is an "open educational resource" – so you know if it's free before you even sign up. If it's a digital textbook, schools have to link to a summary of how the publisher collects and uses your data, and whether you can opt out.
Making it Work
Getting this to work smoothly means getting everyone – faculty, bookstores, and students – on the same page. The bill encourages colleges to help bookstores find cheaper options and suggest alternatives to professors (Section 4). It also pushes for professional development, so professors and staff know how to actually use and adapt these open resources (Section 3). And, crucially, it mandates that any materials created with grant money are accessible to students with disabilities (also Section 3).
The Big Picture
This bill tackles a real problem: the rising cost of higher education. By promoting free, high-quality educational materials, it could save students a significant amount of money. The bill also requires a report in three years (Section 6) to check how it’s all working – are schools actually using these resources, are students saving money, and is the quality of education staying high? It’s about making sure that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently to make college more accessible for everyone.