Education Policy, Business and Technology

Feds Come Around to OER -- Slowly

Inside Higher Ed: Three times since 2013, members in both houses of Congress have introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act, which would create a federal program to fund the creation of open educational resources on a nationwide scale. Each time, that bill has faltered in committee.

Meanwhile, advocates aimed for a more attainable goal: securing a one-time appropriation for OER funding in the annual federal budget. After a whirlwind few weeks that included a concerted lobbying push, a dramatic late-night bill reveal and an empty veto threat from the president, OER supporters last Friday scored a victory: $5 million for a pilot program of creating and expanding OER textbooks at institutions well positioned to save students money.

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