Bill · S. 740· Senate(119-S-740)
Affordable College Textbook Act
- Introduced
- 2/26/2025
- Last activity
- 2/26/2025 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1398-1399)
- Sponsored by
- Richard Durbin
- Cosponsors
- - 2 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Affordable College Textbook Act aims to reduce student costs by expanding the use of open textbooks. It establishes an Open Textbook Grant Program where the Secretary of Education provides competitive grants to institutions of higher education to create or adapt educational resources. These resources must be released to the public for free under a non-exclusive, royalty-free license. The bill also amends the Higher Education Act to improve price transparency and information regarding textbook formats and student data usage. Additionally, it requires institutions to disclose whether materials are open educational resources on course schedules. Finally, the Act mandates a GAO report to examine textbook costs and the impact of these initiatives.
Yes· 3 of 10
Would students be better off under this?+8
The bill directly targets student savings by expanding access to free, high-quality open textbooks.
Does this make college cost less?+8
The bill creates a grant program to expand the use of free open textbooks to reduce student costs.
Would people in their twenties and thirties be better off under this?+7
The bill reduces the financial burden of textbook costs for college students.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Cost Savings for Students: The bill provides grants to expand the use of open textbooks to achieve savings for students (Section 3(b)). It notes that expanded use of these resources has the potential to save students more than a billion dollars annually (Section 2(5)).
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Increased Accessibility: The bill requires that applications include plans to make open textbooks accessible to students with disabilities (Section 3(d)(2)(I)). Furthermore, digital content must be provided in a format that conforms to accessibility standards under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, where feasible (Section 3(h)(3)).
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Improved Price Transparency: Institutions will be required to disclose the retail price, any applicable fees, and whether a textbook is an open educational resource on internet course schedules (Section 4(3)(B)).
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Data Privacy Awareness: For digital textbooks, the bill requires the disclosure of terms and conditions regarding how a publisher collects and uses student data, including whether a student can opt out (Section s4(2)(C)(F)).
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Support for Faculty: The grant program allows for professional development to build the capacity of faculty and staff to adapt and use open textbooks (Section 3(d)(2)(G) and Section 3(f)(1)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- No specific negative impacts or burdens are explicitly detailed within the provided text.
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Students+8Good For Low Income Households+7Good For Young Adults+7Good For Middle Class Households+6Good For People With Disabilities+6
- Education And Technology
- Improves College Affordability+8Improves Data Privacy+4
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Disability Rights+6
- Economy And Finance
- Improves Consumer Protection+5
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+3
- 2/26/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1398-1399)
- 3 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Angus KingIndependent · Maine
Tina SmithDemocrat · Minnesota
Ron WydenDemocrat · Oregon