This may come as shocking news to some, but college is not very affordable — understatement of the century, I know. 

At UT, the estimated cost of attendance for undergraduates can vary from $28,062 (for a Texas resident studying liberal arts full-time) to $62,856 (for an international student studying business full-time). These estimates include tuition as well as necessities such as food, housing and travel.

Both costs of attendance also include a section for external course costs, which covers books, software and other supplies that students have to pay for out of pocket just to participate in their classes. However, given the current pandemic and global economic crisis, students shouldn’t have to worry about these expenses at all.  

Professors could significantly decrease the cost of attendance for many students by proactively switching to free textbook alternatives. Unfortunately, very few choose to do so. 

“Last semester, I ended up paying over $700 for textbooks my professors ‘insisted’ that I needed,” government sophomore Kelsey Lynch said. “By the end of the semester, I had only used about half of them.”

Many of Lynch’s professors required her to purchase multiple textbooks for each class, and one particular law textbook set her back nearly $200.

“This semester, my classmates and I worked together and found a lot of the books for free through different library websites,” said Lynch. “(No free alternatives) were ever specified by any of my professors.”

The pandemic has made it even more difficult for students to cope with such high additional costs. 

“I’m financially independent and solely living off loans,” Lynch said. “Tuition is already a lot, so having to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars in textbook fees is really stressful.”

Open educational resources such as OpenStax are trying to help alleviate this financial burden on students by offering free, faculty-penned textbooks covering topics ranging from physics to macroeconomics. OpenStax textbooks are currently used in 60% of colleges and universities across the United States, and some UT professors have already made the switch.

Open educational resources librarian Ashley Morrison is working to increase the implementation of similar resources at UT more widespread among faculty members. 

“The big benefit most students see is immediate access to course materials at no additional cost,” Morrison said. “You don’t have to wait until later in the semester for when your financial aid package comes in. In my opinion, it’s the gold standard for affordability.”

Morrison is currently in the process of reaching out to individual faculty members in hopes they’ll consider incorporating open educational resources into their curriculum. If a particular open educational resources textbook matches the course objectives of a professor’s class, she does her best to make them aware of the possibility of a free alternative. 

However, at the end of the day, Morrison cannot singlehandedly reduce external course costs for all UT students. Students need to be more vocal and proactive in reaching out to their own professors. At the same time, professors must approach the issue with more flexibility and willingness to accommodate their students’ needs.

In such unprecedented times, faculty need to reconsider the financial consequences of their course material choices and act with more compassion. One of the best ways they can positively and tangibly impact their students is to make the switch to open educational resources as soon as possible.

Chen is a finance and Plan II sophomore from Austin, Texas.