Open Educational Resources

HOUSTON — On the third floor of a bank building near Rice University, the future of higher education is being written. Or at least, edited. Perched i

We've collected an updated roster of resources that offer quality learning content without the high price tag of traditional texts.

With open educational resources on the rise and textbook revenue on the decline, colleges are looking for ways to keep institutional costs sustainable.

A community college reform group has selected a handful of schools in Virginia and Maryland to develop degree programs using open-source materials in place of textbooks, an initiative that could save students as much as $1,300 a year.

Such open educational resources — created using open licenses that let students download or print materials for free — have gained popularity as the price of print textbooks have skyrocketed, but courses that use the materials remain a novelty in higher education. Achieving the Dream, an education advocacy groups based in Silver Spring, Md., aims to change that by offering $9.8 million in grants to support the development of open-source degree programs at 38 colleges in 13 states.