Bill > HR7040

This bill, the Affordable College Textbook Act, aims to expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students and improve textbook price information. The key provisions of the bill include: 1. Establishing an "Open Textbook Grant Program" to provide competitive grants to institutions of higher education, groups of institutions, or states to support projects that expand the use of open textbooks, with the goal of achieving savings for students while maintaining or improving instruction and student learning outcomes. 2. Amending the Higher Education Act to require institutions of higher education to provide more detailed information on textbook and supplemental material prices, including whether they are open educational resources, and to assist campus bookstores in obtaining required and recommended course materials information. 3. Expressing the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by faculty within the principles of academic freedom. 4. Requiring the Government Accountability Office to prepare a report examining the implementation of the textbook price information requirements, the change in textbook costs, and the extent and impact of open textbook use at institutions of higher education. The bill aims to address the high cost of college textbooks, which can be a significant barrier to higher education, by promoting the use of open educational resources that can be freely accessed and used by students, faculty, and the public.