Low & No-Cost Educational Resources

This guide presents pathways for promoting course materials affordability and access, with a focus on OER.  

Over the past 2 decades, college textbook prices have skyrocketed, resulting in documented effects on student academic success, with nearly all students seeking to reduce textbook costs through a variety of means, and self-reported behaviors such as not purchasing textbooks, or textbook sharing. 

At UC Merced, Undergraduate Admissions recommends students budget $1,047 annually for textbooks and supplies. The price of course materials may be the only way faculty can help reduce higher education costs for their students. Open educational resources (OER), low and no-cost materials can alleviate the impact of textbook costs and are increasingly used as quality alternatives.

To learn more about replacing commercial textbooks with OER, view published research by the Open Education Group and OER Research Fellows . For a snapshot of published OER research findings, visit The Review Project.

Open Educational Resources (OER) 

• OER are freely available online resources distributed under a copyright license that allows users to retain copies (download, duplicate, store, and manage), reuse, revise, remix, and perhaps most importantly, redistribute. 

Library Ebooks 

• Library ebooks are excellent alternatives to requiring commercial textbooks. Locate and access ebooks through UC Library Search and contact the library to ensure the ebook has a multiple or unlimited user license to support class use. If we do not own a title, request an ebook purchase.

Library Course Resources Service

• If you plan to use a small percentage of a text, a collection of articles, or streaming media, the Library can help make these items available to your students through CatCourses. Visit Course Resources for details and request instructions. 

Lower Cost Format & Delivery Options 

• The UC Merced Bookstore can help you price format and delivery options when selecting materials for courses, such as ebook and rental options. 

Inclusive Access

• Inclusive access is an automatic billing model negotiated between the UC Merced Bookstore and publishers to provide heavily discounted ebook and resource rental services. Some inclusive access programs have received negative feedback from students. Visit InclusiveAccess.org for the benefits and drawbacks of inclusive access. Contact UC Merced Bookstore for more information.

Affordable Instruction Materials, presented by San Francisco State University (2:30.) 

A Review of the Effectiveness & Perceptions of Open Educational Resources As Compared to Textbooks based on, 

Hilton, J. Open educational resources, student efficacy, and user perceptions: a synthesis of research published between 2015 and 2018. Education Tech Research Dev 68, 853–876 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09700-4.