SRI examined the academic and economic impacts and implementation of the OER Degree Initiative.
The OER Degree Initiative seeks to boost college access and completion, particularly for underserved students, by engaging faculty in the redesign of courses and degree programs through the replacement of proprietary textbooks with open educational resources (OER). SRI, along with partner rpkGROUP, conducted the research and evaluation for the OER Degree Initiative. We examined how OER degrees impact key student outcomes and costs for students and institutions, as well as facilitators and barriers to successful implementation of this model. A primary goal of the study was to determine, with as much confidence possible, whether the availability of OER degree options enabled students to attempt and complete more college credits and thus progress more quickly towards attaining degrees.
Project Lead: Rebecca Griffiths
Related publications
OER Degrees Can Cut College Costs for Students and Improve Course Material Alignment (Blog)
Populations: Students of color
Services: Implementation researchResearch and evaluation