II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1864 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. KING) 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. 


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

2 2016–2017 academic year, the average student 

3 budget for college books and supplies at 4-year pub4 lic institutions of higher education was $1,250. 

5 (3) The Government Accountability Office 

6 found that new textbook prices increased 82 percent 

7 between 2002 and 2012 and that although Federal 

8 efforts to increase price transparency have provided 

9 students and families with more and better informa10 tion, more must be done to address rising costs. 

11 (4) The growth of the internet has enabled the 

12 creation and sharing of digital content, including 

13 open educational resources that can be freely used 

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

15 (5) According to the Student PIRGs, expanded 

16 use of open educational resources has the potential 

17 to save students more than a billion dollars annually. 

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: 


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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 either resides in the public domain or 

13 has been released under an intellectual property li14 cense that permits its free use, reuse, modification, 

15 and sharing with others. 

16 (4) OPEN TEXTBOOK.—The term ‘‘open text17 book’’ means an open educational resource or set of 

18 open educational resources that either is a textbook 

19 or can be used in place of a textbook for a postsec20 ondary course at an institution of higher education. 

21 (5) RELEVANT FACULTY.—The term ‘‘relevant 

22 faculty’’ means both tenure track and contingent 

23 faculty members who may be involved in the creation 

24 of open educational resources or the use of open 


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1 educational resources created as part of the grant 

2 application. 

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 projects that expand the use of open textbooks in 

10 order to achieve savings for students while maintaining or 

11 improving instruction and student learning outcomes. 

12 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el13 igible entity’’ means an institution of higher education or 

14 group of institutions of higher education. 

15 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

17 a grant under this section, after consultation with 

18 relevant faculty, shall submit an application to the 

19 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom20 panied by such information as the Secretary may 

21 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— 


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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 assessing the impact of 

14 open textbooks on instruction and student 

15 learning outcomes at the eligible entity; 

16 (E) a plan for disseminating information 

17 about the results of the project to institutions 

18 of higher education outside of the eligible enti19 ty, including promoting the adoption of any 

20 open textbooks created or adapted through the 

21 grant; and 

22 (F) a statement on consultation with rel23 evant faculty, including those engaged in the 

24 creation of open educational resources, in the 

25 development of the application. 


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1 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 

2 under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid3 eration to applications that demonstrate the greatest po4 tential to— 

5 (1) achieve the highest level of savings for stu6 dents through sustainable expanded use of open 

7 textbooks in postsecondary courses offered by the el8 igible entity; 

9 (2) expand the use of open textbooks at institu10 tions of higher education outside of the eligible enti11 ty; and 

12 (3) produce— 

13 (A) the highest quality open textbooks; 

14 (B) open textbooks that can be most easily 

15 utilized and adapted by faculty members at in16 stitutions of higher education; 

17 (C) open textbooks that correspond to the 

18 highest enrollment courses at institutions of 

19 higher education; and 

20 (D) open textbooks created or adapted in 

21 partnership with entities, including campus 

22 bookstores, that will assist in marketing and 

23 distribution of the open textbook. 

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

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


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

2 of open textbooks: 

3 (1) Professional development for any faculty 

4 and staff members at institutions of higher edu5 cation, including the search for and review of open 

6 textbooks. 

7 (2) Creation or adaptation of open educational 

8 resources, especially open textbooks. 

9 (3) Development or improvement of tools and 

10 informational resources that support the use of open 

11 textbooks, including accessible instructional mate12 rials for students with disabilities. 

13 (4) Research evaluating the efficacy of the use 

14 of open textbooks for achieving savings for students 

15 and the impact on instruction and student learning 

16 outcomes. 

17 (5) Partnerships with other entities, including 

18 other institutions of higher education, for-profit or19 ganizations, or nonprofit organizations, to carry out 

20 any of the activities described in paragraphs (1) 

21 through (4). 

22 (f) LICENSE.—Educational resources created under 

23 subsection (e) shall be licensed under a nonexclusive, irrev24 ocable license to the public to exercise any of the rights 


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1 under copyright conditioned only on the requirement that 

2 attribution be given as directed by the copyright owner. 

3 (g) ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION.—The full and com4 plete digital content of each educational resource created 

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

6 free of charge to the public— 

7 (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable 

8 website, which shall be identified to the Secretary by 

9 the eligible entity; and 

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

11 anyone can directly download, edit with attribution, 

12 and redistribute. 

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

14 a project supported under this section, the eligible entity 

15 shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regard16 ing— 

17 (1) the effectiveness of the project in expanding 

18 the use of open textbooks and in achieving savings 

19 for students; 

20 (2) the impact of the project on expanding the 

21 use of open textbooks at institutions of higher edu22 cation outside of the eligible entity; 

23 (3) educational resources created or adapted 

24 under the grant, including instructions on where the 


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1 public can access each educational resource under 

2 the terms of subsection (g); 

3 (4) the impact of the project on instruction and 

4 student learning outcomes; and 

5 (5) all project costs, including the value of any 

6 volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the 

7 project. 

8 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 such sums as are necessary for each of the 5 fiscal years 

11 succeeding the fiscal year during which this Act is enacted. 

12 SEC. 5. PRICE INFORMATION. 

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

14 (20 U.S.C. 1015b(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking paragraph (6); 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and 

17 (9), as paragraphs (6), (7), and (8), respectively; 

18 and 

19 (3) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by para20 graph (2)— 

21 (A) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

22 (B); and 

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

24 ’’ and inserting ‘‘a college textbook that may in25 clude printed materials, computer disks, website 


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1 access, and electronically distributed mate2 rials.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 

5 education should encourage the consideration of open text6 books by faculty within the generally accepted principles 

7 of academic freedom that establishes the right and respon8 sibility of faculty members, individually and collectively, 

9 to select course materials that are pedagogically most ap10 propriate for their classes. 

11 SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a re14 port to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

15 Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 

16 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives detail17 ing— 

18 (1) the open textbooks created or adapted 

19 under this Act; 

20 (2) the adoption of such open textbooks; 

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

22 and the Federal Government through the use of 

23 open textbooks; and 

24 (4) the impact of open textbooks on instruction 

25 and student learning outcomes. 


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1 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 

2 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

4 shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 

5 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

6 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

7 House of Representatives on the cost of textbooks to stu8 dents at institutions of higher education. The report shall 

9 particularly examine— 

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

11 (2) the factors that have contributed to the 

12 change of the cost of textbooks; 

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

14 at institutions of higher education; 

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

16 textbooks; and 

17 (5) how institutions are tracking the impact of 

18 open textbooks on instruction and student learning 

19 outcomes. 

Æ 


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