Open Resources, Open Futures

Expanding Textbook Affordability at Georgia State

Students need access to textbooks to succeed, but the rising cost of these materials makes it difficult for many Georgia State students to afford them. To address this, Provost Parsons-Pollard has urged all GSU faculty to find ways to reduce textbook costs whenever possible.

Whether you're creating a new course, updating a class you've taught for years, or looking for ways to make your current textbook more affordable, CETLOE has resources and experts to help.

Exploring No-Cost and Low-Cost Options

Need more information? Have questions?

If you’d like more information or want to talk through options, email us at [email protected] and we'll be in touch!

Open-Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are free and adaptable course materials that can save your students significant amounts of money without sacrificing quality. Many OER textbooks go through the same level of peer review as costly textbooks, and they're regularly updated with new editions. To get a sense of what’s available, check out this overview of OER databases, browse the GSU Library’s Open and Affordable Education Research Guide, or see what OERs eCore courses use.

e-Reserves

The GSU Library’s Course Reserves allow instructors to provide students direct links to licensed content in the library’s collection. Via Faculty Select, instructors can browse available options or request that the library purchase items. Faculty may also place copyrighted work in their course reserves, if deemed allowable after reviewing the Fair Use Checklist.

Customizing or creating low-cost and no-cost resources (FUNDING AVAILABLE!)

One of the advantages of open resources is that faculty can customize them to suit their specific needs. Even better, funding is available to support this work. Check out a couple options below.

Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) Grants are easy to apply for and are awarded several times each year. ALG Transformation Grants offer up $5000 for individual faculty or $30,000 per team to adopt, adapt, or create no-cost or low-cost resources. ALG Continuous Improvement Grants are also available, offering up to $2000 for individual faculty or $10,000 per team to revise existing OERs or create ancillary materials. Find out more at ALG’s grant application webpage. Or, feel free to reach out to Georgia State’s ALG Champions.
Catalyst is a CETLOE-supported community of pedagogical innovators that offers individual faculty or faculty teams comprehensive CETLOE support and financial assistance up to $10,000 to develop, test, and scale innovative teaching practices, technologies, and designs, including the development of new OERs. Check out CETLOE’s Funding and Awards page for more information.

Research from 2018 found that in classes where every student had a textbook, the number of A and A- grades increased by over 13%.

From January 2000 to June 2022, the cost of textbooks increased 162%.

In 2021, 65% of college students didn’t buy a required textbook due to the price; 90% of them said it affected their grade.

At $150/class, the median GSU student would spend 8% of their family’s annual income on textbooks.

Nationally, 26% of faculty used OER (free) textbooks in their courses in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Georgia State faculty have received 43 ALG grants over the past 10 years ranging from $2,000 to $30,000. These 43 grants have created over $19.6 million dollars in savings for almost 182,000 students. As a result of ALG funding, over 27,000 students per year at GSU take classes with low- and no-cost textbooks, saving them $2.2 million annually.