GHC Students Save $6M With Free Textbook Program

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Georgia Highlands College said it has saved students over $6 million by eliminating textbook costs and providing free digital options for those enrolled in its institution. GHC’s faculty have been working since fall 2015 to expand Open Education Resources courses each semester.

GHC's conversions are aided by the University System of Georgia’s Affordable Learning Georgia initiative, which promotes student success by providing cost-free alternatives to expensive textbooks. The new resources not only provide free textbooks, but students are also able to obtain video resources, software, labs and an enhanced textbook experience with hyperlinks to many other resources.

Through spring of this year, GHC’s faculty has helped students save roughly $6.48 million with offerings in 25 courses across 250 classes (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here).

Textbooks and course materials average $1,250 per student per year. Due to the higher costs of textbooks, replacing one or two with open educational resources can make an immediate impact to saving students money.

For example, in a specific course at Georgia Highlands College, with 720 students per year in a specific course, the previous book and lab manual cost $361. With the conversions in place, the changes provide $260,000 in savings on an annual basis to these students.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Renva Watterson stated it is imperative that students have access to these free OER textbook alternatives.

“There are several reasons why many college students do not buy recommended and required textbooks, but one fundamental reason is they can’t afford them,” she said. “When you have students sitting in class and they don’t have a text, which is often an essential learning tool, then you put students at academic risk.”

According to a survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 65 percent of students said they had not purchased a textbook at least once because they had found the price too high. The group surveyed 2,000 students from across 150 campuses.

GHC’s total cost savings is based on the cost of a new textbook multiplied by the total number of non-dual enrollment students enrolled in courses offering OERs. Textbooks are already included in the dual enrollment program and provided to dual enrollment students at no cost.

Since OER is open to anyone for free, students, potential students or even the public can view these resources at any time. OER textbooks can be downloaded to any smart device, phone or tablet. To view, please visit:affordablelearninggeorgia.org.

GHC plans to continue to offer OERs and expand into as many areas and courses as possible moving forward.

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