Open Educational Resources

College textbooks and course materials costs have increased over 800% in the last 3 decades, far outpacing inflation, housing, and medical costs, to become the most inflated consumer product. High cost texts create significant barriers to learning and student success. Open Educational Resources (OER) are "teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others" (Hewlett Foundation). OER and related practices are an approach to overcoming cost and reuse barriers to the benefit of students and instructors.

For more general information about OER, see the Guide to Open Educational Resources. Related efforts based in the Libraries include:

Open Education Week

KU Libraries has recognized Open Education Week with events that include guest speakers, workshops and a series of short videos that outline OER basics, introduce Creative Commons licenses, and share tips for finding OER. We also announce our newest Textbook Heroes during the week.

OER Grant Initiatives

Deans OER Initiative

In late 2025, the Office of the Provost approved the Deans Council OER Grant Initiative to incentivize the adoption of open educational resources (OER) in high-enrollment courses that are generally aligned with the KU 34 Core requirements, particularly those with high D, F, W rates and costly course materials. As a result of this initiative, base levels of $5,000 (for individual proposals) and $10,000 (for team proposals) may be provided to qualifying courses. An additional incentive of $5 per student in a single semester (capped at $1000 or 200 students) is available. We anticipate funding 2-3 courses per fall and spring semester over a three-year period. 

Beginning on September 11, 2026, the Libraries will begin accepting applications for the 2026-2027 academic year. Review of the applications will begin on November 4, 2026. Prior to applying, departments/instructors interested in adopting an OER in a qualifying course are highly encouraged to contact oer@ku.edu to set up a meeting to discuss the specifics of the Initiative.

KU Libraries' OER Grants

As of August 24, 2026, the KU Libraries' OER Grant Initiative has temporarily discontinued taking applications so we may place our emphasis on the Deans OER Grant Initiative which focuses on the adoption of OER in high impact, high enrollment course with high textbook costs. We will continue to support OER adoption, adaptation and creation through other initiatives and platforms including the Pressbooks network, Creative Commons consultations, resources from the Open Education Network, OpenStax and Open Education Week programming.

If you have questions about OER, these programs or other support at KU Libraries, please reach out to oer@ku.edu or Heather L. Mac Bean, Open Education Librarian. 

Open Education Network

In 2015 KU joined the Open Textbook Network, which in 2020 was rebranded as the Open Education Network (OEN), an alliance of higher education institutions committed to improving access, affordability, and academic success with the use of open textbooks.  The OEN manages the Open Textbook Library, a collection of over 1,800 open textbooks, many of which have been reviewed by disciplinary faculty at member institutions. As of 2026, the OEN remains a vital partner in expanding OER efforts at KU.

OpenStax Institutional Partner Program

In 2017 KU was admitted, with the support of the Provost, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and KU Libraries, to the OpenStax Institutional Partner Program. OpenStax is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy organization based at Rice University whose mission is to improve student access to education. As institutional partners, KU collaborated with OpenStax and peers to develop and implement a strategic plan to increase the use of OER at KU through a variety of advocacy and support mechanisms.

Textbook Heroes

In 2019 KU Libraries launched Textbook Heroes to recognize faculty, staff, students, and allies at KU who have taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course materials by implementing and advocating for OER and other low and no cost course materials. A new cohort of Textbook Heroes are announced in the spring semester, typically during Open Education Week..

KU Pressbooks Network

In 2020, we expanded our support for OER creation and publishing through Pressbooks, a Wordpress-based tool for simple open textbook publishing. Excellent examples from KU include Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy, 2nd ed., Problem Solving in Teams and Groups, and Palabras Proprias. More information is available at KU Libraries Open Textbooks, or by contacting oer@ku.edu.

Questions about OER and related programs and support at KU should be directed to oer@ku.edu or Open Education Librarian, Heather Mac Bean.