Affordable College Textbook Act

The Affordable College Textbook Act establishes a federal grant program to help colleges and universities adopt free, openly licensed textbooks (called "open textbooks") to reduce student costs. It requires institutions to publicly list textbook prices and whether materials are open textbooks on course schedules, and funds projects for creating or adapting these resources. Institutions receiving grants must make open textbooks freely available in accessible formats under reusable licenses, while tracking savings and educational impacts. The bill targets the average $1,240 annual cost for textbooks at public four-year colleges, aiming to lower expenses through expanded use of open educational resources.