Research Guides: Open Educational Resources (OER) &amp; Textbook Equity: Textbook Equity Basics

What is Textbook Equity?

Textbook Equity is a campuswide initiative aspiring that all UNI students have access to high-quality course materials that are: affordable, accessible, and inclusive.

Initiative Accomplishments To Date:

Saved UNI students more than $2.4 million since tracking began in 2016.
Recognized more than 80 Textbook Equity Champions, UNI faculty who have demonstrated commitment to course materials access by transitioning courses to Open Educational Resources (OER) or other free materials, saving UNI students more than $485,000 in 2023.
- Number of instructors increased by 129% from 2022.
- Cost savings to students increased by 26% and hit a new UNI record.
- More than 140 sections of 57 courses used free materials; course count increased 58%.
- More than 3,250 students benefited from free textbooks, an increase of 25%.
UNIFI (general education) courses had a significant impact:
- 61% of the cost savings comes from UNIFI courses.
- The number of course sections in UNIFI using free texts increased by 423% in 1 year!
Created 2 one-time programs to publish UNI-authored free textbooks. From 2022 through 2024, Rod Library will publish 11 free, openly-licensed textbooks, saving UNI students more than $410,000 additional per year once implemented.
Started UNI Textbook Equity Student Advisory Board and partnered with Northern Iowa Student Government to engage students in textbook equity advocacy.
Partnered with UNI Registrar's Office and UNI Bookstore to increase transparency and data collection about versions of course materials that are free to students.
Created Course Materials Affordability Review service, an opt-in program for faculty to receive a customized list of free/affordable materials matching a course. More than 60 reviews have been completed for instructors in more than 20 academic departments/programs!
Participated in 2021-22 AAC&U Institute on OER to create a campus Action Plan for textbook equity.
Provide statewide leadership through participation on Iowa OER Action Team.

University of Northern Iowa
National Level

Why is Textbook Equity important at the UNI?

In the Fall 2023 Cost of Attendance survey (n = 1792), UNI students reported they:

share books (39%).
avoid purchase/rental of required texts (27%).
change sections or avoid registering for a specific course/section due to textbook costs (23%).
work extra hours to pay for textbooks (22%).
have earned a poor or failing grade due to textbook costs (17%).
have dropped a course or taken fewer courses due to textbook costs (16%).

Data broken out by students' primary major is available upon request; contact Anne Marie Gruber.

Why does textbook equity matter?

Why OER?

Research has shown that using OER can lead to various benefits for students and instructors alike:

Students in courses using OER have similar learning outcomes, with pronounced benefits for Pell-eligible, non-white, first-generation, and non-domestic college students (Colvard et al., 2018; Clinton et al., 2019; Delgado et al., 2019; Marsh et al., 2022).
Students assigned open textbooks are more likely to report using their textbooks, using them more frequently and more often when compared with commercial textbooks (Cuttler, 2018)
Students are more likely to stay in courses: courses with free materials have an average 29% lower withdrawal rate than those with commercial texts (Clinton & Khan, 2019; n=78,000).
Students who enroll in multiple OER courses take more credits and have higher course completion rates (Griffiths et al, 2020; Ross et al, 2018).
Courses implementing open pedagogy can drive student engagement, contribute to media literacy, and build students’ workforce readiness (Baran & AlZoubi, 2019; Sánchez Vera et al., 2021).
Instructors can innovate while improving their students’ learning experiences by implementing OER in their courses (Kimmel et al., 2022).
Students may feel an increased sense of belonging, both because they can access materials and if they can see themselves reflected in those materials (Nusbaum, 2020).
Students may feel an improved sense of mental wellbeing because stress caused by textbook costs is eliminated (Jenkins et al., 2020).

Textbook Equity at the National Level

There are a number of ways to address textbook equity, as shown below. This guide primarily focuses on Open Educational Resources (OER).

Affordable course materials Venn diagram

Image courtesy: Abbey Elder (public domain)

Why Open Textbooks?

College Costs: Quick Guide
When faculty choose open textbooks, they remove one significant cost barrier to students' education by providing free online course materials. The College Board estimates that, on average, students at 4-year public universities spend more than $1300 per year on textbooks. High textbook costs can have a negative impact on students’ academic performance.
2018 Student Textbook and Course Materials Survey
Research demonstrates that students make difficult choices because of textbook costs, including not purchasing the required textbook, sharing textbooks, taking fewer courses, or dropping a course. Students may earn a poor grade or fail a course because they can't afford course materials. The pandemic has made many of these problems worse.
Fixing the Broken Textbook Market report (U.S. PIRG, 2021)
Key findings:
*Students continue to skip buying assigned textbooks despite concerns it will impact their grade.

*More students are skipping access codes during the pandemic.

*COVID-19 is hitting students hard and impacts course material affordability.

*Lack of reliable internet correlates with significant issues for course material access and student success.

*Food insecure students skip buying course materials at significantly higher rates.

Open Educational Resources (OER) & Textbook Equity

Textbook Equity Librarian

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