II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1704 

To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2013 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve 

savings for students. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable College 

5 Textbook Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The high cost of college textbooks continues 

9 to be a barrier for many students in achieving high10 er education. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1704 IS

1 (2) According to the College Board, during the 

2 2012–2013 academic year, the average student 

3 budget for college books and supplies was $1,200. 

4 (3) The Government Accountability Office 

5 found that new textbook prices increased 82 percent 

6 over the last decade and that although Federal ef7 forts to increase price transparency have provided 

8 students and families with more and better informa9 tion, more must be done to address rising costs. 

10 (4) The growth of the Internet has enabled the 

11 creation and sharing of digital content, including 

12 open educational resources that can be freely used 

13 by students, teachers, and members of the public. 

14 (5) Using open educational resources in place of 

15 traditional materials in large-enrollment college 

16 courses can reduce textbook costs by 80 to 100 per17 cent. 

18 (6) Federal investment in expanding the use of 

19 open educational resources could significantly lower 

20 college textbook costs and reduce financial barriers 

21 to higher education, while making efficient use of 

22 taxpayer funds. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1704 IS

1 (1) EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘edu2 cational resource’’ means an educational material 

3 that can be used in postsecondary instruction, in4 cluding textbooks and other written or audiovisual 

5 works. 

6 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

7 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

10 (3) OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.—The term 

11 ‘‘open educational resource’’ means an educational 

12 resource that is licensed under an open license and 

13 made freely available online to the public. 

14 (4) OPEN LICENSE.—The term ‘‘open license’’ 

15 means a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, per16 petual, irrevocable copyright license granting the 

17 public permission to access, reproduce, publicly per18 form, publicly display, adapt, distribute, and other19 wise use the work and adaptations of the work for 

20 any purpose, conditioned only on the requirement 

21 that attribution be given to authors as designated. 

22 (5) OPEN TEXTBOOK.—The term ‘‘open text23 book’’ means an open educational resource or set of 

24 open educational resources that either is a textbook 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1704 IS

1 or can be used in place of a textbook for a postsec2 ondary course at an institution of higher education. 

3 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Education. 

5 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap7 propriated under subsection (i), the Secretary shall make 

8 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to sup9 port pilot programs that expand the use of open textbooks 

10 in order to achieve savings for students. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el12 igible entity’’ means an institution of higher education or 

13 group of institutions of higher education. 

14 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

16 a grant under this section, after consultation with 

17 relevant faculty (including those engaged in the cre18 ation of open educational resources), shall submit an 

19 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

20 manner, and accompanied by such information as 

21 the Secretary may reasonably require. 

22 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

23 under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 

24 the project to be completed with grant funds and— 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1704 IS

1 (A) a plan for promoting and tracking the 

2 use of open textbooks in postsecondary courses 

3 offered by the eligible entity, including an esti4 mate of the projected savings that will be 

5 achieved for students; 

6 (B) a plan for evaluating, before creating 

7 new open educational resources, whether exist8 ing open educational resources could be used or 

9 adapted for the same purpose; 

10 (C) a plan for quality review and review of 

11 accuracy of any open educational resources to 

12 be created or adapted through the grant; 

13 (D) a plan for disseminating information 

14 about the results of the project to institutions 

15 of higher education outside of the eligible enti16 ty, including promoting the adoption of any 

17 open textbooks created or adapted through the 

18 grant; and 

19 (E) a statement on consultation with rel20 evant faculty, including those engaged in the 

21 creation of open educational resources, in the 

22 development of the application. 

23 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 

24 under this section, the Secretary shall give special considVerDate Mar 15 2010 19:05 Nov 18, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1704.IS S1704

TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1704 IS

1 eration to applications that demonstrate the greatest po2 tential to— 

3 (1) achieve the highest level of savings for stu4 dents through sustainable expanded use of open 

5 textbooks in postsecondary courses offered by the el6 igible entity; 

7 (2) expand the use of open textbooks at institu8 tions of higher education outside of the eligible enti9 ty; and 

10 (3) produce— 

11 (A) the highest quality open textbooks; 

12 (B) open textbooks that can be most easily 

13 utilized and adapted by faculty members at in14 stitutions of higher education; 

15 (C) open textbooks that correspond to the 

16 highest enrollment courses at institutions of 

17 higher education; and 

18 (D) open textbooks created or adapted in 

19 partnership with entities, including campus 

20 bookstores, that will assist in marketing and 

21 distribution of the open textbook. 

22 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

23 a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 

24 carry out any of the following activities to expand the use 

25 of open textbooks: 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1704 IS

1 (1) Professional development for faculty and 

2 staff members at institutions of higher education, in3 cluding the search for and review of open textbooks. 

4 (2) Creation or adaptation of open educational 

5 resources, especially open textbooks. 

6 (3) Development or improvement of tools and 

7 informational resources that support the use of open 

8 textbooks. 

9 (4) Research evaluating the efficacy of the use 

10 of open textbooks for achieving savings for students. 

11 (5) Partnerships with other entities, including 

12 other institutions of higher education, for-profit or13 ganizations, or nonprofit organizations, to carry out 

14 any of the activities described in paragraphs (1) 

15 through (4). 

16 (f) LICENSE.—Educational resources created or 

17 adapted under subsection (e) shall be licensed under an 

18 open license. 

19 (g) ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION.—The full and com20 plete digital content of each educational resource created 

21 or adapted under subsection (e) shall be made available 

22 free of charge to the public— 

23 (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable 

24 website, which shall be identified to the Secretary by 

25 the eligible entity; and 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1704 IS

1 (2) in a machine readable, digital format that 

2 anyone can directly download, edit, and redistribute. 

3 (h) REPORT.—Upon an eligible entity’s completion of 

4 a project supported under this section, the eligible entity 

5 shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regard6 ing— 

7 (1) the effectiveness of the pilot program in ex8 panding the use of open textbooks and in achieving 

9 savings for students; 

10 (2) the impact of the pilot program on expand11 ing the use of open textbooks at institutions of high12 er education outside of the eligible entity; 

13 (3) educational resources created or adapted 

14 under the grant, including instructions on where the 

15 public can access each educational resource under 

16 the terms of subsection (g); and 

17 (4) all project costs, including the value of any 

18 volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the 

19 project. 

20 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec22 essary to carry out this section for each of the 5 suc23 ceeding fiscal years after the enactment of this Act. 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1704 IS

1 SEC. 5. PRICE INFORMATION. 

2 Section 133(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1015b(b)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking paragraph (6); and 

5 (2) in paragraph (9); 

6 (A) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

7 (B); and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘a college textbook that— 

9 ’’ and inserting ‘‘a college textbook that may in10 clude printed materials, computer disks, website 

11 access, and electronically distributed mate12 rials.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

14 It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 

15 education should encourage the consideration of open text16 books by faculty within the generally accepted principles 

17 of academic freedom that establishes the right and respon18 sibility of faculty members, individually and collectively, 

19 to select course materials that are pedagogically most ap20 propriate for their classes. 

21 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

22 Not later than July 1, 2016, the Secretary shall pre23 pare and submit a report to the Committee on Health, 

24 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

25 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 

26 of Representatives detailing— 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1704 IS

1 (1) the open textbooks created or adapted 

2 under this Act; 

3 (2) the adoption of such open textbooks; and 

4 (3) the savings generated for students, States, 

5 and the Federal Government through the use of 

6 open textbooks. 

7 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 

8 Not later than July 1, 2017, the Comptroller General 

9 of the United States shall prepare and submit a report 

10 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen11 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and 

12 the Workforce of the House of Representatives on the cost 

13 of textbooks to students at institutions of higher edu14 cation. The report shall particularly examine— 

15 (1) the change of the cost of textbooks; 

16 (2) the factors that have contributed to the 

17 change of the cost of textbooks; 

18 (3) the extent to which open textbooks are used 

19 at institutions of higher education; and 

20 (4) the impact of open textbooks on the cost of 

21 textbooks. 

Æ 


TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS