Last semester’s Open Educational Resources (OER) Pilot Project was a huge success. The 10 instructors who took part in the project, combined with instructors who were already using OERs, helped to save students over $137,000 in just one semester. A few of these instructors chose free, open-source, peer-reviewed texts from Openstax, a nonprofit organization committed to improving student access to quality learning materials.

The pilot project may be over, but the use of OERs is just starting at NMC. In fact, more and more instructors and institutions nationwide are using professional quality Openstax textbooks that are free online and low-cost to print. Openstax has created texts with high enrollment courses in mind.

Openstax texts feature:

• Free, digital versions
• Print versions
• ADA compliance
• Support materials (test banks, PowerPoints, etc.)

Openstax texts are:

• Peer reviewed
• Sponsored by Rice University, Hewlett Foundation & Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

There are currently 17 titles, and 21 titles will be available by 2017. Openstax texts have been downloaded over 650,000 times and are used in more than 900 courses. They estimate that they will save students more than $500 million by 2020.

Browse Openstax Texts
See who’s using Openstax

This is a great resource, but not the only OER resource out there. If you’d like to learn more, comment on this article, contact Mark Delonge or Ryan Bernstein, or visit NMC’s OER Libguide.