Portland Community College Saves Students, Faculty $1 Million on Textbooks

PORTLAND, OR – Through its Open Educational Resources initiative, Portland Community College has saved its students more than $1 million on textbook costs since 2015, the college announced Monday.

Now PCC faculty and staff are raising the bar, aiming for $3 million in savings over the next two years.

"Faculty from across the college have adopted open and alternative course materials to make these student savings possible," PCC reference librarian Jen Klaudinyi said in the college's statement. "Even when open texts are available for courses, it takes hard work to redesign classes, so it is the faculty who deserve congratulations for achieving these savings."

Using open educational resources (OER) documents and media made freely available through open licenses, PCC staff and faculty can get creative when choosing which materials to incorporate into their curriculums.

According to PCC spokesman James Hill, classes in Math, English, and Writing are just a few of the subjects taking advantage of the open-source, free-to-use materials –– adding that some faculty have even adopted whole OER textbooks to replace the costlier commercial book.

"In the past three decades," Hill said, "the cost of textbooks has risen by 812 percent, outpacing the rise in costs associated with inflation, health care, housing, and college tuition and fees."

Based on a spreadsheet tracking which PCC classes and instructors have adopted OER materials and the savings associated with those adoptions, most textbooks –– used prior to the switch to OER –– cost students around $100, with few books running less than $50. One biology book, for example, could cost $280, Hill said.

"My biggest fear at the beginning of every term is when I'm buying textbooks," said Kien Truong, a 20-year-old student leader studying international relations at the Southeast Campus. "As a full-time student, I normally take three to four classes every term which means I have to spend more than $300. It is like the cost of taking another class. I end up skipping my breakfast or lunch many times because I can't afford it.

"I normally try to take the class that does not require the textbooks," he continued. "If it does, I then go and borrow or buy used books from my friends."

Photo Courtesy: Portland Community College