I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4455 

To require Federal agencies to collaborate in the development of freely available open source educational materials in college-level physics, chemistry, 

and math, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2014 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies to collaborate in the development 

of freely available open source educational materials in 

college-level physics, chemistry, and math, and for other 

purposes. 

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 ‘‘Learning Opportuni5 ties With Creation of Open Source Textbooks (LOW 

6 COST) Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the College Board, that the av4 erage student at a 4-year university spent an esti5 mated $1,222 per year on college books and sup6 plies. 

7 (2) According to the National Association of 

8 College Stores, the gross margin on new college text9 books was 25.6 percent in 2012. 

10 (3) The Government Accountability Office has 

11 found that college textbook prices have risen at twice 

12 the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades 

13 and that new textbook prices increased 82 percent 

14 over the last decade. 

15 (4) An open source material project that would 

16 make high quality educational materials freely avail17 able to the general public would reduce college text18 book costs and increase accessibility to such edu19 cation materials. 

20 (5) College-level open source course work mate21 rials in math, physics, and chemistry represent a 

22 high-priority first step in this area. 

23 (6) The scientific and technical workforce at 

24 Federal agencies, national laboratories, and federally 

25 funded research and development centers could 

26 make a valuable contribution to this effort. 


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1 (7) A Federal oversight role in the creation and 

2 maintenance of standard, publicly vetted textbooks is 

3 desirable to ensure that intellectual property is re4 spected and that public standards for quality, edu5 cational effectiveness, and scientific accuracy are 

6 maintained. 

7 SEC. 3. OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL PILOT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall begin de10 velopment of college freshman-level, high quality, open 

11 source materials that— 

12 (1) contain, at minimum, a comprehensive set 

13 of textbooks or other educational materials covering 

14 topics in physics, chemistry, and calculus; 

15 (2) are posted on the Federal Open Source Ma16 terial Website; and 

17 (3) are free of copyright violations. 

18 (b) POSTING DEADLINE.—Not later than 4 years 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

20 have posted the materials described in subsection (a) on 

21 the Federal Open Source Material Website. 

22 (c) SCREENING PROCEDURES.—Before publishing 

23 materials on the Federal Open Source Material Website, 

24 the Director shall, in collaboration with the agencies de25 scribed in section 5(b), develop, implement, and establish 


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1 procedures for checking the veracity, accuracy, and edu2 cational effectiveness of open source materials. 

3 SEC. 4. FEDERAL OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL WEBSITE. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish 

5 and maintain a Federal Open Source Material Website. 

6 (b) AVAILABILITY OF MATERIALS.—Materials in the 

7 Federal Open Source Material Website shall be made 

8 available free of charge to, and may be downloaded, redis9 tributed, changed, revised, or otherwise altered by, any 

10 member of the general public. 

11 SEC. 5. OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL REQUIREMENT FOR FED12 ERAL AGENCIES. 

13 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each agency de14 scribed in subsection (b) shall, under the guidance of the 

15 Director, collaborate with the heads of any other such 

16 agency or any federally funded research and development 

17 center to develop, implement, and establish procedures for 

18 checking the veracity, accuracy, and educational effective19 ness of open source materials that are posted on the Fed20 eral Open Source Material Website. 

21 (b) AGENCY FUNDING.—The head of each agency 

22 that expends more than $10,000,000 in a fiscal year on 

23 scientific education or scientific outreach shall use at least 

24 2 percent of such funds for collaboration described in sub25 section (a). 


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1 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 

2 The Director shall prescribe regulations necessary to 

3 implement this Act, including redistribution and attribu4 tion standards for open source materials produced under 

5 this Act. 

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

10 (2) FEDERAL OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL

11 WEBSITE.—The term ‘‘Federal Open Source Mate12 rial Website’’ means the website established under 

13 section 4(a). 

14 (3) HIGH QUALITY.—The term ‘‘high quality’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) tested for optimal student engagement; 

17 (B) tested for optimal content consump18 tion; 

19 (C) subjected to an editorial peer review 

20 process; and 

21 (D) free of copyright violations. 

22 (4) OPEN SOURCE MATERIALS.—The term 

23 ‘‘open source materials’’ means materials that are 

24 posted on a website that are available free of charge 

25 to, and may be downloaded, redistributed changed, 


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1 revised, or otherwise altered by, any member of the 

2 general public. 

3 SEC. 8. GAO REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 Not later than July 1, 2018, the Comptroller General 

5 shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 

6 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

7 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

8 House of Representatives detailing— 

9 (1) the open source materials created or adapt10 ed under this Act; 

11 (2) the adoption of such open source materials; 

12 and 

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

14 and the Federal Government through the use of 

15 open source materials. 

Æ 


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