Over 150 of FIU’s course offerings are now carrying the Affordability Counts Medallion. This is a major milestone for the program that began a little over a year ago. As part of the Affordability Counts initiative, faculty at the university self-identify as teaching courses that contain course materials that are under $60. This cost is total out-of-pocket expenses for course materials to students.
FIU Online began the Affordability Counts program, a university-wide initiative to recognize faculty who are actively making changes to the courses they teach to reduce the cost of course materials to students.
“Providing affordable course materials in a sustainable way is a top priority for us,” said Interim Assistant Vice President for FIU Online Joseph Riquelme, who chairs the Florida Virtual Campus Council on Distance Learning and Student Services.
Along with the Affordability Counts program, FIU has also partnered with OpenStax to further increase the number of courses using low-cost and open educational resources.
FIU is committed to student success by reducing high textbook costs for students while still presenting high quality content and protecting academic freedom. FIU appreciates that OpenStax books meet standard scope and sequence requirements, are peer-reviewed by educators, and are easy to implement. They are comparable to textbooks that cost $200 or more, are available for free online and in PDF, and are available at very low cost in print.
Riquelme added, “The OpenStax program complements our Affordability Counts Initiative by scaling our capacity to adopt open educational resources campus-wide.”
Commit to Low-cost
Instructors are encouraged to rethink the course materials currently being used in courses and explore open educational resources or course materials from low-cost vendors. These changes could save students thousands of dollars and make for a better learning experience.
For help in getting started, reach out to the Affordability Counts group at lowcost@fiu.edu. Also, visit the Learn section of the Affordability Counts website for valuable information.