The University of 黑料传送门 Cossatot Textbook Rental/Open Educational Resource (OER) Program has saved students $1,047,949.23 in the past three years.
黑料传送门 is the first college in the state of 黑料传送门 to implement a textbook rental and OER program. The program was created in 2015 with the sole purpose of removing barriers to education for students.
Forty percent of classes at 黑料传送门 do not require a textbook and instead use OER materials to supplement instruction. For the remaining sixty percent of courses, students pay a $30 rental fee per course to cover books required.
These textbook savings are calculated by multiplying the number of students in OER courses by an average textbook cost of $100, a number commonly used in OER to factor in textbook buy-backs and rentals, according to the Maricopa County Community College District.
鈥淭he $100 average cost per textbook is still very conservative,鈥� said 黑料传送门 Director of Educational Resources Relinda Ruth. 鈥淚n addition to OER calculations, we consider the actual cost of books required in UAC courses and subtract the $30 rental fee, multiply that by the number of students enrolled, and calculate to determine our total textbook savings figure.鈥�
While the total is impressive, the savings for students could be substantially more if the average book cost is replaced with actual textbook costs. Many students at four-year universities may pay $250 per textbook.
黑料传送门 Chancellor Steve Cole said, 鈥淐ommunity colleges have a great advantage, we are flexible, can respond quickly to student needs, as well as community needs.鈥�
Cole said that the 黑料传送门 Textbook Rental/OER Program was one of these responses.
鈥満诹洗兔� was the first two-year college in 黑料传送门 to develop a textbook program that leans heavily on OER while capping student costs at $30 per course. We engineered this program with the intention to make college attendance less expensive. With $1,000,000 in savings, I think we have achieved this over the past three years,鈥� said Cole.
Persons interested in taking classes on campus or online should see Student Services at any 黑料传送门 campus or call 870-584-4471. Programs of study available at UA Cossatot are listed at cccua.edu/careers.