Weber State University expanding initiative to give students free textbooks
Jan 10, 2025, 8:00 PM
(Colby Walker/KSL NewsRadio)
(Colby Walker/KSL NewsRadio)
OGDEN, Utah — Weber State University is expanding an initiative to give students access to free textbooks.
Since 2019, the university has been encouraging its professors to adopt the Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative in their classrooms. According to Weber’s Public Relations Director Bryan Magaña, this initiative provides students access to free textbooks through Canvas.
“With OER materials, it’s taking all that knowledge found in those textbooks and putting it right into the hands of students at no cost to them.”
Magaña said giving students access to these resources can be a big relief. It can save the average college student over a thousand dollars every year.
“Students were sometimes choosing to not buy the required textbooks for class because their budgets were just that tight.”
Magaña said the Health Science Department was a trailblazer in adopting this initiative. It has been offering free textbooks for its students for years with other professors in tow.
The university is encouraging professors to offer this for more general education courses as well. In fall 2025, the English Department will be able to use a grant they received to offer free resources for students taking English 2010.
