Worcester State University undergraduates saved nearly $2 million on textbooks and course materials last academic year by taking advantage of the university’s more than 1,000 course sections offered with no-cost and low-cost materials. The university recently reported the findings of its initiative to lower classroom costs to the Department of Higher Education.
The average cost of a traditional textbook is $117, according to the state. Low–cost materials are defined as costing less than $50 and no cost materials are free.
The report also found that the academic performance of all students enrolled in courses that utilize no-cost and low-cost materials is on par with those enrolled in courses with traditional materials, with students earning grades of A,B, and C at the same rates. A deeper analysis showed that ALANA/BIPOC students, first generation students and students over age 40 had slightly higher grade outcomes when they enrolled in classes with no-cost materials versus traditional materials.
“The results are stunning and make a difference to our students everyday,” said Associate Provost Henry Theriault. “The return on a minimal investment has been staggering and surely meant students have gotten their degrees who would not have been able to if they had had to pay thousands in textbook costs over their college careers, with a strong impact on the most racially and economically vulnerable of our students. There can be no loftier outcome for our work.”
Worcester State faculty began offering courses with no-cost and low-cost materials many years ago, and in earnest when the Library launched an Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative. In Fall 2016, the library offered $500 grants to faculty to support the conversion of courses from traditional to open resources, which are in the public domain or are under copyright with open licenses that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others. This year marks the first time the university has compiled and analyzed data about the outcomes of these efforts in conjunction with the Department of Higher Education. The university will regularly continue to track the program each academic year.
“It’s our first look at this data, and the numbers were far better than I expected,” said Matt Bejune, executive director of the Library, who has led the university’s OER work. “What we see is that when a faculty member selects OERs as course materials, they are also customizing and crafting courses to meet student needs in ways that are as good, and sometimes better, than traditional course materials with incredibly high prices.”
During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, a majority (62 percent) of the university’s undergraduate courses utilized no-cost and low-cost materials. Most undergraduate majors have no-cost and low-cost materials available, said Bejune. Faculty members can tap into OER, as well as library resources from online subscriptions. And in some cases, Bejune says, university scholars are motivated to fill the gaps for free materials.
“Once you dip your toe into OER, you’re part of an open pedagogical community and empowered to address long-standing problems with traditional course materials. I worked with one faculty member who disliked, and did not assign, certain chapters in the conventional textbook they had assigned for years. When they pivoted to OER, they crafted new content to meet the needs of their class and their students. Their big takeaway was “Why did I have to deal with that substandard, and extremely costly text for so many years?”
The affordability of textbooks and materials has long been a concern, Theriault said. “As book and tuition/fees have risen ahead of income and financial aid amounts, it has been an ever more pressing issue,” he said. “Even as a new faculty member, I joined others in trying to keep costs down. I was proud that, using newly available sources such as Project Gutenberg, I could keep textbook costs in my introduction to philosophy course under $20. But that was just one course. Under Matt’s leadership, Worcester State has made no- and low-cost not just a priority but systematically supported on campus.”
Academic Innovation
Worcester State’s Dr. Lillian R. Goodman Department of Nursing celebrates 50 year anniversary
When the nursing program at Worcester State was founded in 1974 by Dr. Lillian R. Goodman, the entire department had three faculty members. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the program has more . . .