Open Educational Resources: Impact of OER

Launched in Fall 2013, TCC was the first to offer a degree in which students pay nothing for required textbooks. Named “Z-Degree”, this program awards an associates degree in business administration with zero textbook cost to students.

Dubbed "Maricopa Millions Project," this is a partnership between the eight community colleges in Phoenix, Arizona with the goal of saving students $5M in 5 years in textbook costs.

Started the Math OER program in 2012 where faculty used OER materials such as open textbook, interactive workbook, online homework software, and tutorials to teach mathematics to their students.

Launched the OER Faculty Fellowship that provides support and opportunities for faculty to create and use OER in their courses, save students money, and increase the number of textbook-free courses.

Big savings: Textbook alternatives have kept $1.79M in WCC students’ pockets; college committed to more

Finding #3: High textbook prices have a disproportionate impact on students at community college.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, the Shelter Hill Foundation, and the Speedwell Foundation together provided funding for 38 community colleges across 13 states to build entire degree programs using OER.

Results shows that OER enables a majority of educators to better respond to student needs, making teaching easier, and changing teaching practices.

Study of 16,000 students across 10 institutions, compares several measures of student academic success between those using open textbooks and those using traditional textbooks.

CCCOER is a growing consortium of community and technical colleges committed to expanding access to education and increasing student success through adoption of open educational policy, practices, and resources.

With the internet, universal access to education is possible, but its potential is hindered by increasingly restrictive copyright laws and incompatible technologies. The Open Education program at Creative Commons works to minimize these barriers.

Michigan Colleges Online is an initiative of the Michigan Community College Association and the 28 Michigan community colleges.

An independent, not-for-profit organization that provides leadership, international networking and support for educators and educational institutions to achieve their objectives through open education.

Provides free support and technical assistance to all grantees of the $2 billion Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College & Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program from the U.S. Department of Labor.

SPARC is a global coalition committed to making Open the default for research and education.

Nationwide organization of Student Public Interest Research Groups that advocates for free and affordable textbook access to students.

The Foundation supports mainstream adoption and effective use of openly licensed educational resources that provide students around the world greater access to a world class education.