Earlier today, Senators Durbin, King, Smith, and Sinema, along with Congressman Neguse, reintroduced the bicameral Affordable College Textbook Act. Following two years of highly-regarded open textbook pilots in the annual appropriations process, the bill would further cement the government’s commitment to lowering the cost of textbooks and making higher education more accessible for all.
Specifically, this legislative iteration includes language to permanently authorize a federal grant program around open textbook creation and adoption, and it directs institutions of higher education to designate courses using open education resources in their course catalog.
You can find out more about the bill from our friends at SPARC and USPIRG:
https://sparcopen.org/news/2019/affordable-college-textbook-act-reintroduced-congress/
This is a great piece of legislation that aim to lower the price of textbooks for college students in the U.S. As I was a student in the U.S., the prices of textbooks are expensive indeed. It is time to act. Bashar H. Malkawi