I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3870 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to lower the cost of college 
education by establishing pilot programs to expand student access to 
digital course materials. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 
Ms. DELBENE (for herself and Mr. MARINO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to lower the 
cost of college education by establishing pilot programs 
to expand student access to digital course materials. 
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 ‘‘Electronic Books 
Opening Opportunity for Knowledge Act of 2017’’ or the 
‘‘E–BOOK Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to identify savings in the 
cost of higher education for undergraduate students by 
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funding pilot programs to expand student access to digital 
academic course materials. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE 
MATERIALS. 
Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1161a et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new part: 
‘‘PART BB—GRANTS FOR THE EXPANSION OF 
ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE MATERIALS 
‘‘SEC. 899. GRANTS FOR ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE MATE-
RIALS. 
‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail-
able by the Secretary that are not otherwise obli-
gated, the Secretary may award grants on a com-
petitive basis to not more than 10 institutions of 
higher education to reduce the cost of attendance for 
undergraduate students by providing such students 
with expanded access to digital course materials. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF FUNDS TO BE AWARDED.— 
The Secretary shall determine the amount of funds 
to be awarded for each grant based on the number 
of students to be served under the grant, except that 
no grant under this section shall be in an amount 
that is more than $2,000,000. 
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‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An institution desiring to obtain 
a grant under this section shall submit an application to 
the Secretary at such time, in such form, and accompanied 
by such information, agreements, and assurances as the 
Secretary may reasonably require. 
‘‘(c) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under this 
section, the Secretary shall give preference to applications 
that demonstrate a commitment to serving disadvantaged 
students. 
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Each grant awarded under 
this section shall provide to an institution of higher edu-
cation funds to support a pilot program for the institution 
to make digital course materials available to under-
graduate students in at least two different academic de-
partments. Such funds may be used for any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) Purchasing and maintaining electronic 
equipment or software necessary for the operation of 
the pilot program, including mobile computer devices 
and accompanying hardware, software applications, 
computer systems and platforms, and other digital 
and online services and support. 
‘‘(2) Maintaining digital and online content for 
the institution to make available electronically to in-
structors or students. 
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‘‘(3) Hiring staff for the administration of the 
pilot program, with priority given to hiring enrolled 
undergraduate students. 
‘‘(4) Building or acquiring extra storage space 
dedicated to equipment used for the pilot program. 
‘‘(5) Supporting professional development ac-
tivities for instructors, instructional aides, or other 
personnel as needed to support implementation of 
the pilot program. 
‘‘(6) Revising and adapting academic curricula 
as needed to implement the pilot program. 
‘‘(7) Acquiring such other goods or services as 
the Secretary determines appropriate. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY.—After a pe-
riod of time to be determined by the Secretary, each 
institution of higher education that receives a grant 
under this section shall submit to the Secretary a re-
port that includes— 
‘‘(A) an assessment of the effectiveness of 
the pilot program funded by the grant in reduc-
ing the cost of attendance for students; 
‘‘(B) an assessment of any impact of the 
pilot program on student achievement; 
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‘‘(C) an accounting of the purposes for 
which the grant funds were expended; and 
‘‘(D) any additional information the Sec-
retary reasonably requires. 
‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 
three years after the end of the first fiscal year in 
which a grant is awarded under this section, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 
effectiveness of the grants. Such report shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) an estimate by the Secretary of the 
amount of money saved by students who par-
ticipate in the pilot programs; 
‘‘(B) a summary of the best practices de-
veloped in the pilot programs; 
‘‘(C) a description of the types of digital 
course materials used in the pilot programs, in-
cluding electronic books, interactive and adapt-
ive digital learning tools, and open educational 
resources; and 
‘‘(D) any recommendations the Secretary 
determines appropriate regarding future con-
gressional action related to student access to 
digital course materials. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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‘‘(1) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘cost of 
attendance’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 472. 
‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 
The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101(a), except 
that such term only includes public institutions. 
‘‘(3) DIGITAL COURSE MATERIALS.—The term 
‘digital course materials’ includes electronic books, 
portable document format and word-processing docu-
ments, internet websites, interactive and adaptive 
digital learning tools, open educational resources, 
and other digital and online educational resources. 
‘‘(4) OPEN
EDUCATIONAL
RESOURCES.—The 
term ‘open educational resources’ means digital 
course materials that are made freely available on-
line to the public with a permanent copyright license 
granting advance permission for the public to access, 
distribute, adapt, and otherwise use the work with 
appropriate attribution to the authors as set forth in 
the materials. 
‘‘(5) MOBILE
COMPUTER
DEVICE.—The term 
‘mobile computer device’ means an electronic reader 
or tablet computer. 
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‘‘(6) DISADVANTAGED
STUDENT.—The term 
‘disadvantaged student’ means an undergraduate 
student who is— 
‘‘(A) from a low-income family; 
‘‘(B) a minority; or 
‘‘(C) from an economically or otherwise 
disadvantaged background. 
‘‘(g) SUNSET.—No grants may be awarded under this 
section after September 30, 2020.’’. 
Æ 
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