Do Open Textbook Grants Reach Students Who Need Them Most?
This session presents the first cross-institutional evaluation of the U.S. Open Textbooks Pilot (OTP) program, examining whether federal OER investments translate into measurable student outcomes and reach the highest-need institutions. Using College Scorecard, IPEDS, and American Community Survey data, we employ propensity score matching, panel difference-in-differences, event-study diagnostics, and empirical-Bayes benchmarking to compare 12 OTP grantees against matched controls. Results show a significant 6.9 percentage-point completion rate increase at four-year grantees (p = .044), with null debt effects. However, the grantee pool is concentrated in the four-year sector with a mean Pell rate below the national median, revealing a persistent gap between federal investment and realized equity impact -- the space between policy intent and student benefit.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Explain the difference between course-level OER evidence and institution-level OER policy evaluation.
- Describe how matched comparison and panel methods can be used to study open education initiatives.
- Identify the main findings of this evaluation of the Open Textbooks Pilot program.
- Assess how competitive grant design may shape who benefits from open education funding.
- Consider policy and implementation strategies for making OER investment more equitable.
