Rutgers Incentivizes Open, Affordable Textbooks
Rutgers University
in New Jersey has launched its Open and Affordable Textbook (OAT)
Project, which offers grants to faculty or department groups that
switch to free, low-cost or open alternatives to traditional textbooks.
According to the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group
(NJPIRG) — an independent student organization that campaigned for the
OAT Project — students at Rutgers pay an average of $1,500
per year for textbooks, while students across the United States pay an
average of $1,300 per year. The group also found that seven out of 10
students "skip required textbooks due to cost and nearly 60 percent
wait for financial aid to pay for textbooks."
"We have reached a
point where the cost of textbooks is limiting equity and access in
education," said Lily Todorinova, coordinator of the OAT Project and
undergraduate experience librarian at Rutgers.
The OAT Project
will award $1,000 to 12 groups from Rutgers Biomedical and Health
Sciences, Rutgers University-Camden, Rutgers University-Newark and
Rutgers University-New Brunswick to switch to open and affordable
textbook alternatives. According to a news release from the university,
open educational resources "are peer-reviewed, but are published under
copyright licenses that allow students to read and download them for
free or to print them at a significant cost savings."
One course
at Rutgers — Aggregate Economics — switched to free and low-cost
alternatives before the OAT Project. The traditional textbook for the
course costs $89.99 in print or $69.99 as an e-book. However, through
the Springer e-books collection of Rutgers University Libraries,
students can download a free PDF of the textbook or they can purchase a
paperback copy for $24.99. The OAT Project aims to help other courses
make similar changes.
The OAT Project is funded by the university's Office of Information Technology and administered by Rutgers University Libraries.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].