California Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed a program
designed to allow community college students in the state to earn a degree with
no textbook costs. The Zero-Textbook-Cost Degrees program would make it
possible for students to earn a degree using only open educational resources
(OER).
Under the proposal, community colleges would compete
for grants of up to $500,000 to offer associate degrees, certificates, or
credential programs that students can complete using only free and open
textbooks. All of the materials would be available in the California Open
Online Library for Education.
“We believe developing OER degree pathways at the
community colleges is a reasonable next step,” Stephen Frank wrote in a post for California Political Review.
California
is just the latest state to explore this route. The Virginia community colleges
system has already funded three rounds of OER grants and begun development of
OER degree pathways at each of the system’s 23 campuses. The University of
Maryland University College, an online institution, has also announced that all
of its degree programs will have zero textbook costs by the fall.
