The University of Texas System hosted an event on Monday that addressed the UT System’s progress in providing free course materials to students across institutions, including universities and medical schools. 

The event discussed Open Educational Resources, or OER, which refers to academic material that is available at no cost to all students in the UT System. Faculty discussed how to make educational resources more available, including eliminating textbook costs. Rebecca Karoff, the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the UT System has been working to expand OER for about four years.

“It’s (about) making course materials free to students,” Karoff said. “Student success is really impacted by their access to affordable course materials.” 

Karoff said the UT System has saved students $36.7 million since 2018 through OER, especially in core subjects like science and math. A major focus of the event was sharing stories of students who felt burdened by high textbook costs. Gabby Hernandez, an open education librarian at UT-Rio Grande Valley, said students frequently complained about costs. 

“A student (told me), ‘I spent $600 on my textbooks this semester, and with that money I would have bought a citizenship application,’” Hernandez said. “These are real students, real stories.” 

Pauline Huff, a UT-Austin graduate student and former high school teacher, said students feel more in control in the classroom when given access to free resources. 

“(Using OER) increased student autonomy because students are given these learning supports that they often would not ask for otherwise,” Huff said. 

UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken said the importance of OER continues to grow as more employers are requiring college degrees.  

“A degree beyond high school is more important than it’s ever been in history,” Milliken said. “(So is) the work that you’re all doing throughout your institutions to find new ways to make educational resources available … and to save tens of millions of dollars for our students.” 

Milliken also said librarians are central to making free educational materials accessible to students. 

“Thank you for the great work,” Milliken said to the crowd of librarians and OER workers. “You’re doing things that really matter for our students.”