Open Educational Resources: OER Data & Initiatives

For its report, Student PIRGs (public interest research groups) surveyed 5,000 students on campuses across the country to find out how they're dealing with the high cost of textbooks.

The survey's key findings:

• Nearly one-third (30 percent) of the students responding use financial aid money to buy their required books.
• Of those who did use financial aid dollars on books, the average amount spent was more than $300 per semester.
• Community college students are nearly twice as likely to use financial aid for books as students at four-year private or public schools.
• http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/students-are-still-saddled-soaring-textbook-costs-report-says-n516011

845 TMCC students were surveyed in regard to the impact of textbook costs upon their education:

• 43% of the students did not purchase the required textbook.
• 37% of the students took fewer classes (greatly impacting the college’s revenue stream).
• 20% did not register for a specific class, which delays their graduation.
• 24% did not purchase the required textbook and thus earned a poor grade.
• 10% did not purchase the text book and dropped the class.
• 7% failed a class which meant they may have to repeat the class.
• 25% claimed no impact, but upon reading their comments it was emphasized that family, VA, work earnings paid for the textbooks but caused severe personal spending limitations.
• 88% of the students responded that they would prioritize taking a class that provided a free online accessible textbook.

Why college textbooks are so expensive...

This article from Business Insider emphasizes:

• Textbook costs overall rose 67% from 2008 to 2018.
• Some four-year-college students spend close to $500 a year on textbooks.
• Almost 80% of the textbook industry is dominated by five publishing companies — Pearson Education, Scholastic, McGraw-Hill Education, Cengage Learning, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 
• These companies do everything they can to keep their books expensive and prevent students from renting older versions.

47 TMCC faculty members replied to a survey regarding textbooks in the college classroom:

• 95% state that the cost of textbooks has caused concern.
• 33% report having created a low-cost reader to replace the publisher’s textbook.
• 91% report being satisfied with a publisher’s textbook and its relationship to course content.
• 80% state they are not satisfied with textbook pricing.
• 42% stated that they are aware of OER, but don’t know much about them.
• The top 3 deterrents to pursuing OER for courses were time, knowledge, and too difficult to find what is needed.