Angus King submits bill to make college textbooks free

[jpak]

Source: Bangor Daily News

U.S. Sen. Angus King has partnered with two Democrats on a bill that would make high-quality college textbooks available for free.

Anyone who has gone to college knows that after paying thousands of dollars in tuition and room and board, the bill at the bookstore at the beginning of every semester can often be a punch in the gut. I remember several classes for which the book cost well in excess of $100 — or for which there were multiple books. And that was more than 15 years ago. King says the cost of textbooks has risen more than 80 percent in the past decade.

Oof. That punch in the gut is worse than it used to be, apparently. The College Board said the average full-time student pays more than $1,200 for his or her books in an academic year.

The Affordable College Textbook Act would create a competitive grant program to create textbooks under an open license, allowing students and professors to use them freely.

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Read more: http://stateandcapitol.bangordailynews.com/2015/10/09/angus-king-submits-bill-to-make-college-textbooks-free/

[jwirr]

1. That would be a good start.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. The OER (Open Educ. Resources) movement has been building for years.

These grants could expand it even further, hopefully supporting more dynamic online content.

[Yupster]

4. How does it work?

The story was short.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

5. Here's some more info:

General info site with links to various resources: https://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/02/16-oer-sites-every-educator-should-know.aspx

The MERLOT project is one program that's been around a long time, cataloging resources and pushing the agenda: https://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

[Yupster]

3. Article doesn't really explain much

I wonder how it would work?

A "competitive grant program" Can't really picture it.

[hopeforchange2008]

6. Current school term - One text book almost $400 hardcopy

Of course, I can buy/rent the electronic version for just under $200 a year. What a deal! And it has to be read on a the clunkiest electronic reader known to mankind.