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OpenStax Announces Top 10 Schools That Have Adopted Free College Textbooks

Screen shot of an OpenStax landing page on their website.

Rice University-based publisher OpenStax announced today the top 10 schools that have served the most students with the adoption of its free college textbooks in the 2017-18 school year, and Salt Lake Community College was again in the top five.

Melissa Hardy, assistant professor of biology at SLCC, used to require students to purchase a book for one of her classes that costs $150 new. Thanks to OpenStax, that cost has been eliminated. “I ask my students what they do with the money they save,” Hardy said. “They talk about paying rent and car insurance or buying medicine for their kids.” She said many of her students struggle, working full time and taking care of children. “Some say they simply aspire to become part of the middle class. This is helping them by reducing the cost of their education. OpenStax really fits in with our mission as a community college. As for the pedagogical benefits, OpenStax is also better for teachers.”

OpenStax textbooks are in use at 48 percent of colleges and universities in the U.S., and 2.2 million students used at least one of its books in the 2017-18 school year alone. OpenStax textbooks have been used by over 6.2 million students since 2012. OpenStax textbooks have saved college students more than $177 million in the 2017-18 school year alone, and they’re used in over 100 countries around the world. Thirty-two books have been published so far, and the library is still growing.

“These schools are driving access for all students by supporting the open educational resource (OER) movement,” said Daniel Williamson, managing director at OpenStax. “Thanks to their leadership and supportive campus communities, millions of students now have one less obstacle on their educational journey.”
  
The top 10 schools that have served the most students with OpenStax free textbooks are:

1. Pasadena City College - 46,396 students, estimated $4,241,055 saved
2. University of Georgia - 42,245 students, estimated $3,939,027 saved
3. Salt Lake Community College - 41,339 students, estimated $3,742,798 saved
4. University of Maryland, University College - 39,151 students, estimated $3,583,518 saved
5. Grand Rapids Community College - 35,421 students, estimated $3,269,956 saved
6. Georgia Highlands College - 31,414 students, estimated $2,869,610 saved
7. De Anza College - 30,918 students, estimated $2,763,580 saved
8. Lansing Community College - 27,812 students, estimated $2,499,835 saved
9. Hillsborough Community College - 27,519 students, estimated $2,516,266 saved
10. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - 27,080 students, estimated $2,447,362 saved

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