In an op-ed featured in the Washington Post, Partners' president Dr. James Toscano and Virginia Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) discuss how higher education can utilize digital textbooks, also known as Open Educational Resources, as a cost-saving measure for students.

"Much has been made in recent years about the ever-increasing cost of higher education. Those concerns often — and with good reason — are directed at the high tuition and fees charged by many institutions. But tuition and fees are merely a part of an undergraduate student’s budget."

During the 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly, Delegate Filler-Corn carried legislation to require Virginia's public colleges and universities to create guidelines for the adoption of open educational resources. After passing unanimously out of the state legislature, the bill was signed into law this past April by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

"Every dollar a student can save matters. That is why Virginia recently passed legislation (HB 454) to mandate that every public institution of higher education in the state create a framework to adopt and use open educational resources and low-cost resources across the state. Open educational resources are free and openly licensed learning materials. The motivation behind the bill was the need to establish a framework that would encourage academic leaders and faculty to adopt such materials in the future."

Read the full op-ed here!

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