I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3840 
To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 
Mr. POLIS (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve 
savings for students. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable College 
Textbook Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The high cost of college textbooks continues 
to be a barrier for many students in achieving high-
er education. 
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(2) According to the College Board, during the 
2016–2017 academic year, the average student 
budget for college books and supplies at 4-year pub-
lic institutions of higher education was $1,250. 
(3) The Government Accountability Office 
found that new textbook prices increased 82 percent 
between 2002 and 2012 and that although Federal 
efforts to increase price transparency have provided 
students and families with more and better informa-
tion, more must be done to address rising costs. 
(4) The growth of the internet has enabled the 
creation and sharing of digital content, including 
open educational resources that can be freely used 
by students, teachers, and members of the public. 
(5) According to the Student PIRGs, expanded 
use of open educational resources has the potential 
to save students more than a billion dollars annually. 
(6) Federal investment in expanding the use of 
open educational resources could significantly lower 
college textbook costs and reduce financial barriers 
to higher education, while making efficient use of 
taxpayer funds. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘edu-
cational resource’’ means an educational material 
that can be used in postsecondary instruction, in-
cluding textbooks and other written or audiovisual 
works. 
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(3) OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE.—The term 
‘‘open educational resource’’ means an educational 
resource that either resides in the public domain or 
has been released under an intellectual property li-
cense that permits its free use, reuse, modification, 
and sharing with others. 
(4) OPEN TEXTBOOK.—The term ‘‘open text-
book’’ means an open educational resource or set of 
open educational resources that either is a textbook 
or can be used in place of a textbook for a postsec-
ondary course at an institution of higher education. 
(5) RELEVANT FACULTY.—The term ‘‘relevant 
faculty’’ means both tenure track and contingent 
faculty members who may be involved in the creation 
of open educational resources or the use of open 
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educational resources created as part of the grant 
application. 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap-
propriated under subsection (i), the Secretary shall make 
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to sup-
port projects that expand the use of open textbooks in 
order to achieve savings for students while maintaining or 
improving instruction and student learning outcomes. 
(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el-
igible entity’’ means an institution of higher education or 
group of institutions of higher education. 
(c) APPLICATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 
a grant under this section, after consultation with 
relevant faculty, shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom-
panied by such information as the Secretary may 
reasonably require. 
(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 
under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 
the project to be completed with grant funds and— 
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(A) a plan for promoting and tracking the 
use of open textbooks in postsecondary courses 
offered by the eligible entity, including an esti-
mate of the projected savings that will be 
achieved for students; 
(B) a plan for evaluating, before creating 
new open educational resources, whether exist-
ing open educational resources could be used or 
adapted for the same purpose; 
(C) a plan for quality review and review of 
accuracy of any open educational resources to 
be created or adapted through the grant; 
(D) a plan for assessing the impact of 
open textbooks on instruction and student 
learning outcomes at the eligible entity; 
(E) a plan for disseminating information 
about the results of the project to institutions 
of higher education outside of the eligible enti-
ty, including promoting the adoption of any 
open textbooks created or adapted through the 
grant; and 
(F) a statement on consultation with rel-
evant faculty, including those engaged in the 
creation of open educational resources, in the 
development of the application. 
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(d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid-
eration to applications that demonstrate the greatest po-
tential to— 
(1) achieve the highest level of savings for stu-
dents through sustainable expanded use of open 
textbooks in postsecondary courses offered by the el-
igible entity; 
(2) expand the use of open textbooks at institu-
tions of higher education outside of the eligible enti-
ty; and 
(3) produce— 
(A) the highest quality open textbooks; 
(B) open textbooks that can be most easily 
utilized and adapted by faculty members at in-
stitutions of higher education; 
(C) open textbooks that correspond to the 
highest enrollment courses at institutions of 
higher education; and 
(D) open textbooks created or adapted in 
partnership with entities, including campus 
bookstores, that will assist in marketing and 
distribution of the open textbook. 
(e) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 
a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 
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carry out any of the following activities to expand the use 
of open textbooks: 
(1) Professional development for any faculty 
and staff members at institutions of higher edu-
cation, including the search for and review of open 
textbooks. 
(2) Creation or adaptation of open educational 
resources, especially open textbooks. 
(3) Development or improvement of tools and 
informational resources that support the use of open 
textbooks, including accessible instructional mate-
rials for students with disabilities. 
(4) Research evaluating the efficacy of the use 
of open textbooks for achieving savings for students 
and the impact on instruction and student learning 
outcomes. 
(5) Partnerships with other entities, including 
other institutions of higher education, for-profit or-
ganizations, or nonprofit organizations, to carry out 
any of the activities described in paragraphs (1) 
through (4). 
(f) LICENSE.—Educational resources created under 
subsection (e) shall be licensed under a nonexclusive, irrev-
ocable license to the public to exercise any of the rights 
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under copyright conditioned only on the requirement that 
attribution be given as directed by the copyright owner. 
(g) ACCESS AND DISTRIBUTION.—The full and com-
plete digital content of each educational resource created 
or adapted under subsection (e) shall be made available 
free of charge to the public— 
(1) on an easily accessible and interoperable 
website, which shall be identified to the Secretary by 
the eligible entity; and 
(2) in a machine readable, digital format that 
anyone can directly download, edit with attribution, 
and redistribute. 
(h) REPORT.—Upon an eligible entity’s completion of 
a project supported under this section, the eligible entity 
shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regard-
ing— 
(1) the effectiveness of the project in expanding 
the use of open textbooks and in achieving savings 
for students; 
(2) the impact of the project on expanding the 
use of open textbooks at institutions of higher edu-
cation outside of the eligible entity; 
(3) educational resources created or adapted 
under the grant, including instructions on where the 
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public can access each educational resource under 
the terms of subsection (g); 
(4) the impact of the project on instruction and 
student learning outcomes; and 
(5) all project costs, including the value of any 
volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the 
project. 
(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
such sums as are necessary for each of the 5 fiscal years 
succeeding the fiscal year during which this Act is enacted. 
SEC. 5. PRICE INFORMATION. 
Section 133(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1015b(b)) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (6); 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and 
(9), as paragraphs (6), (7), and (8), respectively; 
and 
(3) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by para-
graph (2)— 
(A) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 
(B); and 
(B) by striking ‘‘a college textbook that— 
’’ and inserting ‘‘a college textbook that may in-
clude printed materials, computer disks, website 
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access, and electronically distributed mate-
rials.’’. 
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 
education should encourage the consideration of open text-
books by faculty within the generally accepted principles 
of academic freedom that establishes the right and respon-
sibility of faculty members, individually and collectively, 
to select course materials that are pedagogically most ap-
propriate for their classes. 
SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a re-
port to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 
and the Workforce of the House of Representatives detail-
ing— 
(1) the open textbooks created or adapted 
under this Act; 
(2) the adoption of such open textbooks; 
(3) the savings generated for students, States, 
and the Federal Government through the use of 
open textbooks; and 
(4) the impact of open textbooks on instruction 
and student learning outcomes. 
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SEC. 8. GAO REPORT. 
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 
House of Representatives on the cost of textbooks to stu-
dents at institutions of higher education. The report shall 
particularly examine— 
(1) the change of the cost of textbooks; 
(2) the factors that have contributed to the 
change of the cost of textbooks; 
(3) the extent to which open textbooks are used 
at institutions of higher education; 
(4) the impact of open textbooks on the cost of 
textbooks; and 
(5) how institutions are tracking the impact of 
open textbooks on instruction and student learning 
outcomes. 
Æ 
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