Choosing affordable course materials helps learning opportunities become more accessible.
The Florida Virtual Campus Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey (2016) of over 22,000 students found that the high cost of textbooks significantly impacted students’ academic choices: 47.6% took fewer courses, 45.5% didn’t register for a specific course, 26.1% dropped a course; and 20.7% withdrew from a course as the result of the required textbook cost. Similarly, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) found in a 2014 survey that 65% of college students had, at some point, decided against buying a college textbook due to its high price and 48% factored in textbook costs when deciding how many or which classes to take. That means that if students choose to take a lighter course load to get around the financial burden of textbooks, they may spend a longer time in college overall – also an expensive option.
Source: Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative
Ready to learn more?
The University of Maryland library has created a guide for use of open educational resources, which are offered freely or at low cost for anyone to use. Please read more at UMD Open Educational Resources Faculty Guide.
If you would like to meet with a staff member at the TLTC to discuss options around affordable course material in your class(es), please schedule a teaching consultation.