MCC is Working to Reduce Textbook Costs!

We know books are a huge expense for college students and we've made a college-wide effort to continue providing high-quality instruction while saving you from the burdensome cost of textbooks.

In reducing textbook costs, MCC instructors use a variety of innovative course materials, for example…

  • Open Educational Resources (OER) (reusable, retainable, revisable, remixable, redistributable without licensing other than Creative Commons licenses already granted) in digital and/or lower-cost print versions
  • Reputable websites (professional organizations in the field; from respected institutions such as universities, larger charities, hospitals, or from corporate research departments or activist organization research (for comparison)
  • Limited access digital materials which students have access to via MCC subscriptions (library databases, other subscription services)
  • Government databases and research reports (federal, state, local, or respectable foreign governments)
  • Instructor-created materials given to students free and digitally (e.g. Canvas pages, instructor-built website, video or audio materials, handouts, worksheets)

MCC's initiative to use innovative course materials does not just lower costs. Other benefits include…

  • Building students' informational literacy skills including familiarity with a variety of reputable information sources and awareness of how to locate such sources. 
  • Increasing the variety of viewpoints assessed and the ability to synthesize multiple viewpoints.
  • Improving currency because courses are continually updated.
  • Using the multimedia capabilities of modern educational technology to increase variety and interest.
  • Creating opportunities for students to add to courses by finding or creating additional materials as part of coursework.

We Think...

"I hope to expand that to all of the SPE 151 sections by spring semester, which will result in an approximate cost-reduction of $162,000 annually for more than 1,200 students."

Jay Geller, speech instructor

"What is far more important than the savings is that going with no textbook improves the quality of the materials and the learning. Students learn where to get quality sources from the internet and how to judge quality, and those sources are more current, varied and authentic (original, not secondary)."

Anne Humphrey, English instructor

"Our goal is to drastically reduce, if not eliminate, textbooks, and still provide sources that are accurate and timely."

Sherry Ridge, business instructor

"Textbook Cost Reduction Camps have given faculty the opportunity to improve the quality of their courses by incorporating new technologies, digital resources and their own expert materials into courses. These changes not only improve course quality but reduce the cost of textbooks for MCC students."

Julie Freelove, instructor and textbook ad hoc co-chair

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