With the average college textbook costing around $105, according to Education Data Initiative, students can spend hundreds of dollars every semester.
However, students at Lakeshore Technical College have been saving money —$2.1 million since 2018—thanks to the college making open educational resources available.
Open educational resources include free online textbooks, videos, and other learning tools that reside in the public domain.
Rather than renting or purchasing textbooks, students download materials to their electronic devices.
The college library also offers hard copies of the materials for checkout.
Instructors for more than 180 Lakeshore courses have eliminated textbook costs by adopting open educational resources.
In addition to saving students money, the resources provide more equitable access to course materials.
All students can access materials on the first day of class since they do not need to wait for bookstore shipments or financial aid awards.
More information on Lakeshore Technical College can be found at gotoltc.edu.
