The funding comes from the Michigan Department of Lifelong Learning, Advancement, and Potential and will help expand the college’s existing Open Educational Resources (OER) program.
Washtenaw Community College has received $200,000 from the Michigan Department of Lifelong Learning, Advancement, and Potential’s College Success Grant program. The funding will allow the college to enhance its existing Open Educational Resources program, which provides students with free digital textbooks, helping to remove the burden of textbook costs and make a college education more accessible. Since the college’s OER program launched in 2017, it has saved students more than $16 million in textbook costs.
According to an article on Washtenaw Community College’s website, Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, the college’s president, said of the funding, “The OER program aligns perfectly with our mission to provide affordable and accessible education. We are grateful for this new College Success Grant from the state to help us expand our program and continue to serve our students in the best way possible.”
The funding will assist in expanding the current digital textbook and course material offerings to increase the amount of money it can save students on book and course material costs. Open educational resources are made up of textbooks adapted by instructors at the college, or open source materials that instructors will be able to utilize in their courses for free.
There are 410 course sections within 20 academic departments in the Fall 2025 semester that are utilizing OER materials. Additionally, the college also offers three Z-Degrees and six Z-Certificates, which are full academic programs or certificate courses that require students to purchase zero textbooks, as they are all offered as OER. New course options this semester include Liberal Arts Transfer, General Studies Transfer, and Math & Natural Sciences.
Open educational resources is in support of the State of Michigan’s Sixty by 30 initiative, which aims to see 60% of working Michiganders receive a postsecondary credential by 2030.
For more information about Washtenaw Community College, visit the school’s website.