LSU administration is helping students with the increasing cost of textbooks by implementing Open Education Resources and Affordable Education Resources.
Open Education Resources (OER) are openly licensed resources such as textbooks, videos, articles and software programs that are completely free to students. Affordable Education Resources (AER) are offered at low or discounted prices. The material must be under $29 to qualify as AER per LSU’s standards.
In June 2019, the Louisiana Board of Regents signed Act 125 into law. Beginning in fall 2021, this bipartisan bill requires the costs associated with every class must be labeled in the course catalog. Classes must also be designated as free or low-cost classes by using a conspicuous symbol, logo, or other distinguishing figure to represent AER or OER classes.
While the bill does not go into full effect until fall 2021, LSU is testing out some of the features during spring 2021 scheduling, which began Oct. 25. Out of the 4,000 courses offered in the catalog for next semester, 160 OER and 149 AER undergraduate courses are available. This number will increase during the finalization of the new program for fall 2021.
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Matthew Lee said switching to OER and AER courses requires a cultural shift where professors first become aware of the situation and then take it upon themselves to address the problem in their own classrooms.
“[We are] working to get faculty more tuned in to themselves playing a role in helping manage the cost of getting a higher education for students by doing what they can to use Open Education Resources instead of traditional high cost textbooks, or to rely on Affordable Education Resources,” Lee said.
Lee also said he does not believe professors intentionally assign high-cost resources, as they usually do not take into account the cumulative cost of a student’s classes. Students spend an average of $1,200 per year on textbooks and course related material.
“I have definitely seen faculty over time become much more tuned in to the problem of the cost of higher education and much more sensitive to the needs of students and needing to find course materials that are more manageable in terms of the cost,” Lee said. “It is happening, but it’s a cultural change.”
Director of Communications and Publications for LSU Libraries Sigrid Kelsey explained that while this initiative is not new, it’s being revitalized by Act 125.
“We’ve been purchasing e-books for the library for years and letting professors know they can be assigned for courses,” Kelsey said. “We’ve saved students a potential of several millions of dollars if you add up how many students are in each course and how much that textbook would have cost brand new.”
Oftentimes, a university will purchase a distribution license and offer textbooks to their students at discounted rates or for free. These are not open access materials available to the general public. Through LSU’s investments, students and faculty currently have over 400,000 of these e-books at their disposal. These materials can be accessed here.
Academic Affairs and the LSU Libraries are collaborating with professors to find suitable OER and AER for their courses out of those already pre-purchased from the libraries. The University is also open to buying new titles if necessary.
Ultimately, Kelsey said she hopes the new program allows students to “choose what they’re interested in studying rather than what they can afford to study.”
