PCC OER Initiative Saves Students More Than $38 Million In Textbooks Costs (Photo) -06/03/25
PORTLAND, Ore. – Students have a lot to worry about: grades, tuition and the climbing cost of living. At Portland Community College, many students have one less thing to worry about – textbooks.
Since 2015, a partnership of faculty, librarians, administrators and students has saved over $38 million through free open educational resources (OER), $13 million of which is thanks to state funding through Open Oregon Educational Resources. Open educational resources are materials written and released under an open copyright license, which means that students can access and keep them for free, while educators can also update and adapt them for their courses.
More than 475 PCC instructors and staff have moved away from traditional commercial textbooks, which can cost a student between $100-$300, to free open alternatives, since the program began a decade ago.
“At Portland Community College, we believe that access to education begins with removing unnecessary barriers—and the high cost of textbooks has long been one of them,” said PCC President Dr. Adrien Bennings. “Through the dedicated efforts of our faculty, librarians and staff, and with vital support from Open Oregon Educational Resources, we’re creating a more equitable and affordable learning environment. Saving students more than $38 million isn’t just a statistic—it’s a powerful reflection of our commitment to student success and innovation in higher education.”
Unlike commercial textbooks, open educational resources are usually written under a nonprofit model and have been supported with state and local investments from programs like Open Oregon Educational Resources. Some faculty who receive grant funds use them to write new textbooks that are then used in their classes and beyond. Other faculty use the support to adapt existing openly licensed materials to meet the needs of their class.
Tim Krause, who teaches in the college’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program, has authored more than a dozen OER textbooks and curricula for his students. His materials are available both online for students to download for free and in print for the cost of the paper and ink.
“It’s been incredibly gratifying to know that the textbooks and materials I've helped write are helping students here at PCC and across the state to learn English," Krause said. “Quality educational materials are an essential tool to help students succeed, and if students are being priced out of them, then that impacts their ability to learn."
So far, state funding for PCC’s OER program has seen a return on investment of 13 to 1 with students saving $13 for every $1 spent on the program.
“Resources at community colleges are often very tight,” said PCC Executive Dean for Teaching and Learning Support Michael Reis. “To find a program with such a strong return on investment in student savings means that students are able to spend those funds on rent, food, transportation, or take additional classes with a goal of graduating on a faster timeline.”
Instructors have been using open and alternative resources long before it became an initiative at the college. But since Oregon passed legislation in 2015 making it easier for colleges to adopt OER practices, the momentum is surging across the state as well as in Washington and California, which have state-level OER funding and legislation.
PCC continues to add courses to their schedule each term that have no textbook costs associated through OER and aims to continue to increase the number of classes with zero textbook costs. That is music to the ears of Ryan Bonn of Southwest Portland. The second-year biology student is busy balancing work, class and other life responsibilities. The OER program has made him worry about one less thing in his life.
“Last fall, the professor in my ‘Social Change in Cuba’ class used an OER textbook she had written for the course,” Bonn said. “Not only was it free for me to use, but it was the best textbook I had ever had. It was incredibly detailed, full of timely information that related to real-world current events, and incorporated a plethora of outside and interactive resources.”
To learn more about PCC’s OER initiative, visit https://guides.pcc.edu/oer
About Portland Community College: Founded in 1961, Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon and provides training, degree and certificate completion, and lifelong learning to more than 53,000 full- and part-time students in Multnomah, Washington, Yamhill, Clackamas, and Columbia counties. PCC has four comprehensive campuses, 10 education centers or areas served, and approximately 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.
Visit PCC news on the web at http://news.pcc.edu/
For B-ROLL footage, visit PCC campus and student life highlight reel.