Angelo & Jennette Volpe Library
Textbook Affordability at Tech
The cost of college textbooks increased over 87% between 2006 and 2016. Tennessee Tech has worked to reduce the cost of textbooks for students through the following endeavors:
-
- Tennessee Tech OER (Open Educational Resources) Program (2022-current)
- TBR OER (Open Educational Resources) Grant (2021-2022)
Savings
The table below indicates the total amount per year that students have saved in classes that used $0 course materials instead of traditional textbooks. Although some savings began earlier, this table tracks the savings from Fall 2021 forward.
| Year | Courses | Professors | Sections | Enrollment | Savings |
| Fall 2022 - Summer 2023* | 18 | 17 | 32 | 1,052 | $178,658 |
| Fall 2021 - Summer 2022 | 86 | 59 | 167 | 4,979 | $630,159 |
* active academic year; table is updated as new data is acquired (last updated 10/13/2022)
Faculty Feedback
Below are comments from faculty after switching to OERs in their courses.
I noticed that students actually responded to assignments in ways that made it obvious that they had been reading and engaging with the material.
When students have the material, the ‘playing field’ is leveled and we tend to see more engagement from students of all socioeconomic strata.
Students responded favorably to the materials, with several specifically expressing their appreciation for the quality material that added no additional cost to their experience.
This new and varied material infused my class activities, assignments, and discussions with updated learning activities, which was fun for me and the students alike.
I have received tremendous support and encouragement from my colleagues to pursue OERs.
It is nearly impossible for a traditional text to keep up with [the field's] change of pace, which is a great advantage of using OERs.
OER textbooks give me the ability to customize the course materials. I can now create the 'perfect' course for my class instead of a one size fits all model.
The only con is that it is a lot of work for the professor to redo their classes, but it is worth it.
