Affordable College Textbook Act

Affordable College Textbook Act

This bill directs the Department of Education to make grants to institutions of higher education or states to support projects that expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students while maintaining or improving instruction and student learning outcomes. An open textbook is an educational resource that either resides in the public domain or has been released under an intellectual license that permits its free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others.

The Affordable College Textbook Act, also known as Bill 118 hr 1811, is a piece of legislation introduced in the United States Congress with the aim of reducing the cost of college textbooks for students. The bill seeks to achieve this goal by promoting the use of open textbooks, which are freely available online and can be accessed by students at no cost.

Under the Affordable College Textbook Act, the government would provide grants to colleges and universities to support the creation and adoption of open textbooks. These grants would be used to incentivize faculty members to develop open textbooks for their courses, as well as to assist institutions in implementing open textbook programs.

In addition to promoting the use of open textbooks, the bill also aims to increase transparency in the college textbook market. It requires publishers to disclose the cost of textbooks to faculty members and students, as well as to provide information on any changes made to new editions of textbooks. Overall, the Affordable College Textbook Act is designed to make college more affordable for students by reducing the cost of textbooks, which can often be a significant financial burden. By promoting the use of open textbooks and increasing transparency in the textbook market, the bill seeks to make higher education more accessible to all students.