| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1886 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students |
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| 6 | 6 | | and improve textbook price information. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | MARCH5, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. N |
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| 10 | 10 | | EGUSEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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| 11 | 11 | | Committee on Education and Workforce |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve |
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| 14 | 14 | | savings for students and improve textbook price information. |
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| 15 | 15 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable College 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Textbook Act’’. 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | Congress finds the following: 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) The high cost of college textbooks continues 8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | to be a barrier for many students in achieving high-9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | er education. 10 |
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| 26 | 26 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 27 | 27 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) According to the College Board, during the 1 |
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| 29 | 29 | | 2024–2025 academic year, the average student 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | budget for college books and supplies at 4-year pub-3 |
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| 31 | 31 | | lic institutions of higher education was $1,290. 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (3) The Government Accountability Office 5 |
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| 33 | 33 | | found that new textbook prices increased 82 percent 6 |
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| 34 | 34 | | between 2002 and 2012 and that although Federal 7 |
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| 35 | 35 | | efforts to increase price transparency have provided 8 |
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| 36 | 36 | | students and families with more and better informa-9 |
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| 37 | 37 | | tion, more must be done to address rising costs. 10 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) The growth of the internet has enabled the 11 |
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| 39 | 39 | | creation and sharing of digital content, including 12 |
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| 40 | 40 | | open educational resources that can be freely used 13 |
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| 41 | 41 | | by students, teachers, and members of the public. 14 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (5) According to the Student PIRGs, expanded 15 |
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| 43 | 43 | | use of open educational resources has the potential 16 |
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| 44 | 44 | | to save students more than a billion dollars annually. 17 |
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| 45 | 45 | | (6) Federal investment in expanding the use of 18 |
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| 46 | 46 | | open educational resources has lowered college text-19 |
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| 47 | 47 | | book costs and reduced financial barriers to higher 20 |
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| 48 | 48 | | education, while making efficient use of taxpayer 21 |
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| 49 | 49 | | funds. 22 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (7) Educational materials, including open edu-23 |
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| 51 | 51 | | cational resources, must be accessible to the widest 24 |
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| 53 | 53 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 55 | 55 | | possible range of individuals, including those with 1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | disabilities. 2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | SEC. 3. OPEN TEXTBOOK GRANT PROGRAM. 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (a) D |
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| 59 | 59 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (1) I |
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| 61 | 61 | | NSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION .—The 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 6 |
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| 63 | 63 | | meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (2) O |
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| 66 | 66 | | PEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE .—The term 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ‘‘open educational resource’’ has the meaning given 10 |
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| 68 | 68 | | the term in section 133 of the Higher Education Act 11 |
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| 69 | 69 | | of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015b). 12 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (3) O |
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| 71 | 71 | | PEN TEXTBOOK.—The term ‘‘open text-13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | book’’ means an open educational resource or set of 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | open educational resources that either is a textbook 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | or can be used in place of a textbook for a postsec-16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | ondary course at an institution of higher education. 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | (4) R |
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| 77 | 77 | | ELEVANT FACULTY .—The term ‘‘relevant 18 |
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| 78 | 78 | | faculty’’ means both tenure track and contingent 19 |
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| 79 | 79 | | faculty members who may be involved in the creation 20 |
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| 80 | 80 | | or use of open textbooks created as part of an appli-21 |
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| 81 | 81 | | cation under subsection (d). 22 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (5) S |
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| 83 | 83 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 |
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| 84 | 84 | | the Secretary of Education. 24 |
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| 86 | 86 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 88 | 88 | | (6) SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL .—The term 1 |
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| 89 | 89 | | ‘‘supplemental material’’ has the meaning given the 2 |
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| 90 | 90 | | term in section 133 of the Higher Education Act of 3 |
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| 91 | 91 | | 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015b). 4 |
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| 92 | 92 | | (b) G |
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| 93 | 93 | | RANTSAUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap-5 |
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| 94 | 94 | | propriated under subsection (k), the Secretary shall make 6 |
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| 95 | 95 | | grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to sup-7 |
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| 96 | 96 | | port projects that expand the use of open textbooks in 8 |
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| 97 | 97 | | order to achieve savings for students while maintaining or 9 |
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| 98 | 98 | | improving instruction and student learning outcomes. 10 |
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| 99 | 99 | | (c) E |
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| 100 | 100 | | LIGIBLEENTITY.—In this section, the term ‘‘el-11 |
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| 101 | 101 | | igible entity’’ means an institution of higher education, a 12 |
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| 102 | 102 | | consortium of institutions of higher education, or a consor-13 |
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| 103 | 103 | | tium of States on behalf of institutions of higher edu-14 |
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| 104 | 104 | | cation. 15 |
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| 105 | 105 | | (d) A |
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| 106 | 106 | | PPLICATIONS.— 16 |
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| 107 | 107 | | (1) I |
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| 108 | 108 | | N GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 17 |
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| 109 | 109 | | a grant under this section, after consultation and 18 |
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| 110 | 110 | | consensus with relevant faculty, shall submit an ap-19 |
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| 111 | 111 | | plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man-20 |
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| 112 | 112 | | ner, and accompanied by such information as the 21 |
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| 113 | 113 | | Secretary may reasonably require. 22 |
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| 114 | 114 | | (2) C |
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| 115 | 115 | | ONTENTS.—Each application submitted 23 |
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| 116 | 116 | | under paragraph (1) shall include a description of 24 |
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| 117 | 117 | | the project to be completed with grant funds and— 25 |
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| 119 | 119 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 120 | 120 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 121 | 121 | | (A) a plan for promoting and tracking the 1 |
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| 122 | 122 | | use of open textbooks in postsecondary courses 2 |
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| 123 | 123 | | offered by the eligible entity and across partici-3 |
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| 124 | 124 | | pating members of the consortium, where appli-4 |
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| 125 | 125 | | cable, including an estimate of the projected 5 |
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| 126 | 126 | | savings that will be achieved for students; 6 |
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| 127 | 127 | | (B) a plan for identifying gaps in the open 7 |
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| 128 | 128 | | textbook marketplace in courses that are part 8 |
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| 129 | 129 | | of degree-granting programs, which may include 9 |
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| 130 | 130 | | a plan for evaluating, before creating new open 10 |
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| 131 | 131 | | textbooks, whether existing open textbooks 11 |
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| 132 | 132 | | could be used or adapted for the same purpose, 12 |
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| 133 | 133 | | and in the case that a gap exists, creating new 13 |
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| 134 | 134 | | open textbooks; 14 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (C) a plan for quality review and review of 15 |
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| 136 | 136 | | accuracy of any open textbooks to be created or 16 |
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| 137 | 137 | | adapted through the grant; 17 |
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| 138 | 138 | | (D) a plan for assessing the impact of 18 |
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| 139 | 139 | | open textbooks on instruction, student learning 19 |
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| 140 | 140 | | outcomes, course outcomes, and educational 20 |
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| 141 | 141 | | costs at the eligible entity and across partici-21 |
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| 142 | 142 | | pating members of the consortium, where appli-22 |
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| 143 | 143 | | cable; 23 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (E) a plan for disseminating information 24 |
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| 145 | 145 | | about the results of the project to institutions 25 |
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| 147 | 147 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 148 | 148 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 149 | 149 | | of higher education outside of the eligible enti-1 |
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| 150 | 150 | | ty, including promoting the adoption of any 2 |
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| 151 | 151 | | open textbooks created or adapted through the 3 |
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| 152 | 152 | | grant; 4 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (F) a statement on consultation and con-5 |
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| 154 | 154 | | sensus with relevant faculty, including those en-6 |
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| 155 | 155 | | gaged in the creation of open textbooks, in the 7 |
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| 156 | 156 | | development of the application; 8 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (G) a plan for professional development to 9 |
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| 158 | 158 | | build the capacity of faculty, instructors, and 10 |
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| 159 | 159 | | other staff to adapt and use open textbooks; 11 |
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| 160 | 160 | | (H) a plan for updating the open textbooks 12 |
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| 161 | 161 | | beyond the funded period; and 13 |
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| 162 | 162 | | (I) a plan to make open textbooks that are 14 |
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| 163 | 163 | | accessible to students with disabilities. 15 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (e) S |
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| 165 | 165 | | PECIALCONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants 16 |
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| 166 | 166 | | under this section, the Secretary shall give special consid-17 |
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| 167 | 167 | | eration to applications that demonstrate the greatest po-18 |
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| 168 | 168 | | tential to— 19 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (1) achieve the highest level of savings for stu-20 |
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| 170 | 170 | | dents through sustainable expanded use of open 21 |
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| 171 | 171 | | textbooks in postsecondary courses offered by the el-22 |
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| 172 | 172 | | igible entity; 23 |
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| 174 | 174 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 176 | 176 | | (2) expand the use of open textbooks at institu-1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | tions of higher education outside of the eligible enti-2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | ty; and 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | (3) produce— 4 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (A) the highest quality open textbooks; 5 |
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| 181 | 181 | | (B) open textbooks that can be most easily 6 |
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| 182 | 182 | | utilized and adapted by relevant faculty mem-7 |
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| 183 | 183 | | bers at institutions of higher education; 8 |
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| 184 | 184 | | (C) open textbooks that correspond to the 9 |
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| 185 | 185 | | highest enrollment courses at institutions of 10 |
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| 186 | 186 | | higher education; and 11 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (D) open textbooks created or adapted in 12 |
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| 188 | 188 | | partnership with entities within institutions of 13 |
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| 189 | 189 | | higher education, including campus bookstores, 14 |
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| 190 | 190 | | that will assist in marketing and distribution of 15 |
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| 191 | 191 | | the open textbook. 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | (f) U |
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| 193 | 193 | | SE OFFUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 17 |
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| 194 | 194 | | a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to 18 |
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| 195 | 195 | | carry out any of the following activities to expand the use 19 |
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| 196 | 196 | | of open textbooks: 20 |
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| 197 | 197 | | (1) Professional development for any relevant 21 |
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| 198 | 198 | | faculty and staff members at institutions of higher 22 |
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| 199 | 199 | | education, including the search for and review of 23 |
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| 200 | 200 | | open textbooks. 24 |
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| 201 | 201 | | (2) Creation or adaptation of open textbooks. 25 |
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| 203 | 203 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 204 | 204 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 205 | 205 | | (3) Development or improvement of supple-1 |
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| 206 | 206 | | mental materials and informational resources that 2 |
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| 207 | 207 | | are necessary to support the use of open textbooks, 3 |
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| 208 | 208 | | including accessible instructional materials for stu-4 |
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| 209 | 209 | | dents with disabilities. 5 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (4) Research evaluating the efficacy of the use 6 |
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| 211 | 211 | | of open textbooks for achieving savings for students 7 |
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| 212 | 212 | | and the impact on instruction and student learning 8 |
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| 213 | 213 | | outcomes. 9 |
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| 214 | 214 | | (g) L |
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| 215 | 215 | | ICENSE.—For each open textbook, supplemental 10 |
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| 216 | 216 | | material, or informational resource created or adapted 11 |
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| 217 | 217 | | wholly or in part under this section that constitutes a new 12 |
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| 218 | 218 | | copyrightable work, the eligible entity receiving the grant 13 |
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| 219 | 219 | | shall release such textbook, material, or resource to the 14 |
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| 220 | 220 | | public under a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and 15 |
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| 221 | 221 | | irrevocable license to exercise any of the rights under copy-16 |
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| 222 | 222 | | right conditioned only on the requirement that attribution 17 |
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| 223 | 223 | | be given as directed by the copyright owner. 18 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (h) A |
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| 225 | 225 | | CCESS ANDDISTRIBUTION.—The full and com-19 |
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| 226 | 226 | | plete digital content of each open textbook, supplemental 20 |
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| 227 | 227 | | material, or informational resource created or adapted 21 |
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| 228 | 228 | | wholly or in part under this section shall be made available 22 |
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| 229 | 229 | | free of charge to the public— 23 |
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| 231 | 231 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 232 | 232 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 233 | 233 | | (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable 1 |
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| 234 | 234 | | website, which shall be identified to the Secretary by 2 |
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| 235 | 235 | | the eligible entity; 3 |
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| 236 | 236 | | (2) in a machine readable, digital format that 4 |
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| 237 | 237 | | anyone can directly download, edit with attribution, 5 |
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| 238 | 238 | | and redistribute; 6 |
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| 239 | 239 | | (3) in a format that conforms to accessibility 7 |
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| 240 | 240 | | standards under section 508 of the Rehabilitation 8 |
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| 241 | 241 | | Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), where feasible; and 9 |
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| 242 | 242 | | (4) with identifying information, including the 10 |
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| 243 | 243 | | title, edition, author, publisher, copyright date, and 11 |
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| 244 | 244 | | International Standard Book Number, if available. 12 |
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| 245 | 245 | | (i) R |
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| 246 | 246 | | EPORT.—Upon an eligible entity’s completion of 13 |
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| 247 | 247 | | a project supported under this section, the eligible entity 14 |
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| 248 | 248 | | shall prepare and submit a report to the Secretary regard-15 |
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| 249 | 249 | | ing— 16 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (1) the effectiveness of the project in expanding 17 |
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| 251 | 251 | | the use of open textbooks and in achieving savings 18 |
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| 252 | 252 | | for students; 19 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (2) the impact of the project on expanding the 20 |
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| 254 | 254 | | use of open textbooks at institutions of higher edu-21 |
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| 255 | 255 | | cation outside of the eligible entity; 22 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (3) open textbooks, supplemental materials, and 23 |
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| 257 | 257 | | informational resources created or adapted wholly or 24 |
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| 258 | 258 | | in part under the grant, including instructions on 25 |
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| 260 | 260 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 261 | 261 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 262 | 262 | | where the public can access each educational re-1 |
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| 263 | 263 | | source under the terms of subsection (h); 2 |
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| 264 | 264 | | (4) the impact of the project on instruction and 3 |
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| 265 | 265 | | student learning outcomes; and 4 |
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| 266 | 266 | | (5) all project costs, including the value of any 5 |
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| 267 | 267 | | volunteer labor and institutional capital used for the 6 |
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| 268 | 268 | | project. 7 |
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| 269 | 269 | | (j) A |
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| 270 | 270 | | NNUALREPORT TOCONGRESS.—Not later than 8 |
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| 271 | 271 | | 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annu-9 |
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| 272 | 272 | | ally thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and submit a 10 |
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| 273 | 273 | | report to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 11 |
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| 274 | 274 | | Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Education 12 |
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| 275 | 275 | | and Workforce of the House of Representatives detail-13 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ing— 14 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (1) the open textbooks, supplemental materials, 15 |
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| 278 | 278 | | and informational resources created or adapted 16 |
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| 279 | 279 | | wholly or in part under this section; 17 |
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| 280 | 280 | | (2) the adoption of such open textbooks, includ-18 |
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| 281 | 281 | | ing outside of the eligible entity; 19 |
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| 282 | 282 | | (3) the savings generated for students, States, 20 |
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| 283 | 283 | | and the Federal Government through projects sup-21 |
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| 284 | 284 | | ported under this section; and 22 |
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| 285 | 285 | | (4) the impact of projects supported under this 23 |
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| 286 | 286 | | section on instruction and student learning out-24 |
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| 287 | 287 | | comes. 25 |
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| 289 | 289 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 |
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| 290 | 290 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 291 | 291 | | (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 |
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| 292 | 292 | | are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 |
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| 293 | 293 | | such sums as are necessary. 3 |
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| 294 | 294 | | SEC. 4. TEXTBOOK PRICE INFORMATION. 4 |
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| 295 | 295 | | Section 133 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 5 |
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| 296 | 296 | | U.S.C. 1015b) is amended— 6 |
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| 297 | 297 | | (1) in subsection (b)— 7 |
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| 298 | 298 | | (A) by striking paragraph (6) and insert-8 |
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| 299 | 299 | | ing the following: 9 |
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| 300 | 300 | | ‘‘(6) O |
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| 301 | 301 | | PEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE .—The 10 |
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| 302 | 302 | | term ‘open educational resource’ means a teaching, 11 |
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| 303 | 303 | | learning, or research resource that is offered freely 12 |
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| 304 | 304 | | to users in at least one form and that resides in the 13 |
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| 305 | 305 | | public domain or has been released under an open 14 |
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| 306 | 306 | | copyright license that allows for its free use, reuse, 15 |
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| 307 | 307 | | modification, and sharing with attribution.’’; and 16 |
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| 308 | 308 | | (B) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘text-17 |
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| 309 | 309 | | book that’’ and all that follows through the pe-18 |
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| 310 | 310 | | riod at the end and inserting ‘‘textbook that 19 |
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| 311 | 311 | | may include printed materials, website access, 20 |
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| 312 | 312 | | and electronically distributed materials.’’; 21 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 22 |
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| 314 | 314 | | (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 23 |
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| 315 | 315 | | (A), by striking ‘‘or other person or adopting 24 |
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| 316 | 316 | | entity in charge of selecting course materials’’ 25 |
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| 318 | 318 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 319 | 319 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 320 | 320 | | and inserting ‘‘or other person or entity in 1 |
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| 321 | 321 | | charge of selecting or aiding in the discovery 2 |
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| 322 | 322 | | and procurement of course materials’’; 3 |
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| 323 | 323 | | (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 4 |
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| 324 | 324 | | ‘‘such institution of higher education or to’’ 5 |
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| 325 | 325 | | after ‘‘would make the college textbook or sup-6 |
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| 326 | 326 | | plemental material available to’’; and 7 |
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| 327 | 327 | | (C) by adding at the end the following: 8 |
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| 328 | 328 | | ‘‘(E) Whether the college textbook or sup-9 |
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| 329 | 329 | | plemental material is an open educational re-10 |
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| 330 | 330 | | source. 11 |
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| 331 | 331 | | ‘‘(F) For a college textbook or supple-12 |
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| 332 | 332 | | mental material delivered primarily in a digital 13 |
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| 333 | 333 | | format, a summary of terms and conditions 14 |
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| 334 | 334 | | under which a publisher collects and uses stu-15 |
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| 335 | 335 | | dent data through the student’s use of such col-16 |
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| 336 | 336 | | lege textbook or supplemental material, includ-17 |
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| 337 | 337 | | ing whether a student can opt out of such 18 |
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| 338 | 338 | | terms and conditions.’’; 19 |
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| 339 | 339 | | (3) in subsection (d)— 20 |
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| 340 | 340 | | (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 21 |
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| 341 | 341 | | ‘‘ISBN’’; and 22 |
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| 342 | 342 | | (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert-23 |
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| 343 | 343 | | ing the following: 24 |
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| 346 | 346 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 347 | 347 | | ‘‘(1) verify and disclose, on (or linked from) the 1 |
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| 348 | 348 | | institution’s internet course schedule, for each 2 |
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| 349 | 349 | | course listed in such course schedule, and in a man-3 |
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| 350 | 350 | | ner of the institution’s choosing (except that if the 4 |
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| 351 | 351 | | institution determines that the disclosure of the in-5 |
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| 352 | 352 | | formation described in this subsection is not prac-6 |
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| 353 | 353 | | ticable or available for a college textbook or supple-7 |
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| 354 | 354 | | mental material, then the institution shall indicate 8 |
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| 355 | 355 | | the status of such information in lieu of the informa-9 |
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| 356 | 356 | | tion required under this subsection)— 10 |
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| 357 | 357 | | ‘‘(A) the International Standard Book 11 |
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| 358 | 358 | | Number of required and recommended college 12 |
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| 359 | 359 | | textbooks and supplemental materials, except 13 |
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| 360 | 360 | | that if the International Standard Book Num-14 |
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| 361 | 361 | | ber is not available for such college textbook or 15 |
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| 362 | 362 | | supplemental material, then the institution shall 16 |
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| 363 | 363 | | include in the internet course schedule the au-17 |
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| 364 | 364 | | thor, title, publisher, and copyright date for 18 |
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| 365 | 365 | | such college textbook or supplemental material; 19 |
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| 366 | 366 | | ‘‘(B) the retail price of required and rec-20 |
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| 367 | 367 | | ommended college textbooks and supplemental 21 |
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| 368 | 368 | | materials; 22 |
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| 369 | 369 | | ‘‘(C) any applicable fee information of re-23 |
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| 370 | 370 | | quired and recommended college textbooks and 24 |
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| 371 | 371 | | supplemental materials; 25 |
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| 374 | 374 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 375 | 375 | | ‘‘(D) whether each required and rec-1 |
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| 376 | 376 | | ommended college textbook and supplemental 2 |
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| 377 | 377 | | material is an open educational resource; and 3 |
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| 378 | 378 | | ‘‘(E) for a college textbook or supplemental 4 |
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| 379 | 379 | | material delivered primarily in a digital format, 5 |
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| 380 | 380 | | a link to the summary required to be provided 6 |
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| 381 | 381 | | by the publisher under subsection (c)(1)(F); 7 |
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| 382 | 382 | | and’’; 8 |
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| 383 | 383 | | (4) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 9 |
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| 384 | 384 | | following: 10 |
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| 385 | 385 | | ‘‘(e) A |
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| 386 | 386 | | VAILABILITY OFINFORMATION FOR COLLEGE 11 |
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| 387 | 387 | | B |
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| 388 | 388 | | OOKSTORES.— 12 |
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| 389 | 389 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 390 | 390 | | N GENERAL.—An institution of higher 13 |
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| 391 | 391 | | education receiving Federal financial assistance shall 14 |
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| 392 | 392 | | assist a college bookstore that is operated by, or in 15 |
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| 393 | 393 | | a contractual relationship or otherwise affiliated 16 |
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| 394 | 394 | | with, the institution, in obtaining required and rec-17 |
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| 395 | 395 | | ommended course materials information and such 18 |
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| 396 | 396 | | course schedule and enrollment information as is 19 |
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| 397 | 397 | | reasonably required to implement this section so 20 |
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| 398 | 398 | | that such bookstore may— 21 |
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| 399 | 399 | | ‘‘(A) verify availability of such materials; 22 |
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| 400 | 400 | | ‘‘(B) source lower cost options, including 23 |
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| 401 | 401 | | presenting lower cost alternatives to faculty for 24 |
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| 402 | 402 | | faculty to consider, when practicable; and 25 |
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| 405 | 405 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 406 | 406 | | ‘‘(C) maximize the availability of format 1 |
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| 407 | 407 | | options for students. 2 |
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| 408 | 408 | | ‘‘(2) D |
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| 409 | 409 | | UE DATES.—In carrying out paragraph 3 |
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| 410 | 410 | | (1), an institution of higher education may establish 4 |
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| 411 | 411 | | due dates for faculty or departments to notify the 5 |
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| 412 | 412 | | campus bookstore of required and recommended 6 |
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| 413 | 413 | | course materials.’’; and 7 |
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| 414 | 414 | | (5) in subsection (f)— 8 |
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| 415 | 415 | | (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 9 |
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| 416 | 416 | | (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5); and 10 |
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| 417 | 417 | | (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 11 |
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| 418 | 418 | | following: 12 |
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| 419 | 419 | | ‘‘(3) available open educational resources;’’. 13 |
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| 420 | 420 | | SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 14 |
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| 421 | 421 | | It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 15 |
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| 422 | 422 | | education should encourage the consideration of open text-16 |
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| 423 | 423 | | books by faculty within the generally accepted principles 17 |
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| 424 | 424 | | of academic freedom that establishes the right and respon-18 |
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| 425 | 425 | | sibility of faculty members, individually and collectively, 19 |
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| 426 | 426 | | to select course materials that are pedagogically most ap-20 |
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| 427 | 427 | | propriate for their classes. 21 |
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| 428 | 428 | | SEC. 6. GAO REPORT. 22 |
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| 429 | 429 | | Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 23 |
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| 430 | 430 | | of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 24 |
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| 431 | 431 | | shall prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 25 |
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| 434 | 434 | | •HR 1886 IH |
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| 435 | 435 | | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 1 |
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| 436 | 436 | | the Committee on Education and Workforce of the House 2 |
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| 437 | 437 | | of Representatives on the cost of textbooks to students at 3 |
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| 438 | 438 | | institutions of higher education. The report shall particu-4 |
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| 439 | 439 | | larly examine— 5 |
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| 440 | 440 | | (1) the implementation of section 133 of the 6 |
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| 441 | 441 | | Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015b), 7 |
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| 442 | 442 | | as amended by section 4, including— 8 |
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| 443 | 443 | | (A) the availability of college textbook and 9 |
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| 444 | 444 | | open educational resource information on 10 |
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| 445 | 445 | | course schedules; 11 |
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| 446 | 446 | | (B) the compliance of publishers with ap-12 |
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| 447 | 447 | | plicable requirements under such section; and 13 |
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| 448 | 448 | | (C) the costs and benefits to institutions of 14 |
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| 449 | 449 | | higher education, relevant faculty, and students; 15 |
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| 450 | 450 | | (2) the change in the cost of textbooks; 16 |
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| 451 | 451 | | (3) the factors, including open textbooks, that 17 |
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| 452 | 452 | | have contributed to the change of the cost of text-18 |
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| 453 | 453 | | books; 19 |
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| 454 | 454 | | (4) the extent to which open textbooks are used 20 |
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| 455 | 455 | | at institutions of higher education; and 21 |
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| 456 | 456 | | (5) how institutions are tracking the impact of 22 |
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| 457 | 457 | | open textbooks on instruction and student learning 23 |
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| 458 | 458 | | outcomes. 24 |
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| 459 | 459 | | Æ |
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