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UNC Affordable & OER Committee

UNC Affordable and Open Educational Resources Committee logo

Nancy A. Henke, Committee Chair
Textbook Affordability Librarian
nancy.henke@unco.edu

Members of the 2024-25 AOER Committee

Zoom screenshot with members of the AOER Committee

Top row: Jay Dinges, Nancy Henke, Kiki Gilderhus, Mike Aldridge; Middle row: Constantin Gurdgiev, Jen Mayer, Angela Rockwell, Franklina Addae; Bottom row: Melinda Gurule, Cassie Bergstrom, Kathy Zellers; Not pictured: Jen Cherico, Molly Desjardins, Matt Farber, Mackenzie Green, Molly Jameson.

What UNC Students Say About Textbook Costs

Some students already struggle to pay for rent, bills, transportation, tuition and even necessities like food. Imagine the relief if we had one less thing to worry about, like not purchasing books.
I spend less than I could on textbooks, but it is still a sizable chunk of money. Multiple times I have had to put off paying certain bills or repairing my car in order to pay for textbooks
“I know students who have failed because they can’t afford the textbook…it has caused me to stress greatly and I had to choose between getting food or getting the textbook.”
“Taking classes without the required materials is a lot like starting a course half-way through the semester; it feels like every assignment and lecture is in the middle of a topic that you’ve never even heard about before... It felt like I was getting half the education that I’d paid for simply because I wasn’t able to afford the materials for those classes.”