BCcampus – Media Release
Victoria, B.C.  – Rice University-based publisher OpenStax announced on Monday, August 1, 2016, the top 10 schools that have saved their students the most money through the adoption of OpenStax free college textbooks in the 2015-16 academic school year.

“We are glad to recognize and celebrate the schools whose leaders and faculty have adopted OpenStax free textbooks,” said Daniel Williamson, managing director at OpenStax. “Those who adopt open textbooks for their students are the real stars here. Their leadership in instituting our titles has saved students significant money.”
OpenStax textbooks have saved college students more than $68 million since 2012 and $42 million in the 2015-16 school year alone. The publisher’s rapid, large-scale impact is due to its unique open education resource business model: OpenStax uses philanthropic grants to produce high-quality, peer-reviewed textbooks that are free online and low-cost in print. It launched with the goal of publishing free textbooks for the nation’s 25 most-attended college courses and is on track to meet its goal of saving students $500 million by 2020.
The schools and school systems that have saved the most money for students with OpenStax free textbooks are:

1. University System of Georgia | $3,542,802 | 35,942 students
2. California State University System | $2,134,533 | 21,655 students
3. Florida College System | $1,940,744 | 19,689 students
4. University of Texas System | $1,524,483 | 15,466 students
5. University System of Ohio | $1,063,077 | 10,785 students
6. BCcampus |$1,009,553 | 10,242 students (number 1 in Canada) 
7. Illinois Community College Board | $845,139 | 8,574 students
8. Virginia Community College System | $833,015 |8,451 students
9. Tarrant County College System (Fort Worth, Texas) | $825,326 | 8,373 students
10. University System of Maryland | $760,763 | 7,718 students

To date, OpenStax textbooks have been adopted by 2,026 college systems/schools and used by 686,300 students.
“OpenStax has been a leader in the creation of open textbooks since its inception in 2012. The success of OpenStax was a catalyst for the development of the B.C. Open Textbook Project,” said Amanda Coolidge, Senior Manager, Open Education, BCcampus. “We are thrilled to see such strong support for the high-quality open textbooks produced by OpenStax. Through the adoption of OpenStax and the B.C. Open Textbook Project, B.C. faculty are not only improving access to education for students but are significantly changing teaching and learning practices.”  
“All the schools on our list are national leaders in OER,” Williamson said. “These schools have shown strong leadership support for open education. They are focused on improving student access to high-quality learning resources and ensuring that their students have the tools to succeed in class.”
“We expect more schools and faculty to adopt our textbooks as they see how others have benefited,” he said. “We expect to save students $60 million in the coming academic year.”
Williamson said anyone can start a conversation about OER, whether it is a faculty member talking among colleagues, a student approaching a professor or leaders initiating a campuswide dialogue.
OpenStax titles include: College Physics, Biology, Concepts of Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Principles of Economics, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Introductory Statistics, Precalculus, Algebra and Trigonometry, College Algebra, Chemistry, U.S. History, Psychology, Introduction to Sociology 2e,Prealgebra and American Government.
OpenStax recently released Calculus and plans to publish University Physics, Microbiology and Astronomy this fall. Additional titles will be added in spring 2017.
OpenStax is made possible by the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the 20 Million Minds Foundation, the Maxfield Foundation, the Calvin K. Kanzanjian Foundation, the Bill and Stephanie Sick Fund and the Leon Lowenstein Foundation.

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See more at: http://news.rice.edu/2016/08/01/top-10-which-colleges-save-the-most-with-free-textbooks/
Media contacts:

Amanda Coolidge acoolidge@bccampus.ca

Erin Beattie communications@bccampus.ca

Established in 2003, BCcampus provides teaching, learning, educational technology and open education support to the post-secondary institutions in British Columbia, Canada. We bring together the resources and expertise of the institutions in a collaborative model to develop curricular resources that are then made openly available. BCcampus also introduces and supports innovations in learning and teaching, and helps faculty and institutions evaluate and develop leading practice in the use of technology for learning. The work done by BCcampus enables a systemic approach to student learning in B.C., while recognizing the diversity of British Columbia’s post-secondary system.