Last Updated on November 13, 2025, 1:26 pm ET
The Rutgers University Libraries Open and Affordable Textbooks (OAT) Program launched in 2016 and has become a signature program with goals meant to enhance access to education, contribute to student savings, and foster an equitable classroom environment. These goals directly align with Rutgers University’s defining values, including academic excellence that is both accessible and affordable. This initiative has been led by a team of seven library faculty members.
When the OAT Program launched, it offered Course Redesign Awards that provided $1,000—later increased to $1,500—incentive awards to faculty who committed to redesigning their courses with open educational resources (OER), library-licensed content, or free and low-cost materials. In 2021, the OAT Authoring Award was introduced to subsidize the creation of a complete OER textbook. From 2016 to 2023, Rutgers University Libraries funded a total of 203 Course Redesign and Authoring Awards, impacting over 43,954 students across the university.
Program impact was initially measured by student textbook savings. The total cost savings for students between the calendar years 2016 to 2021 was estimated to be more than $6 million. However, this rough estimate did not consider the repetition of course offerings. Exploring how to obtain the data to help address this data gap prompted the need to review additional aspects of the program.
After the 2023 program cycle concluded, the vice president for university libraries paused the OAT Program for review. The OAT team was tasked with conducting a program assessment covering the lifetime of the program and providing recommendations for:
a. An approach to accurately calculate the total compounded cost savings for each course using OAT materials
b. Revision of the application form to ensure responses yielded pertinent information for future assessment efforts
c. Changes to the application evaluation rubric to ensure that the criteria used are clear, objective, and measurable
d. Revisions to the program website to provide timely and accurate information
The review was supported by the libraries’ executive director for administration and technology and a university data analyst, who provided budget data and matched awardee records with course enrollments. In addition to this hard data, the team surveyed 138 past program participants using an online survey instrument.
Overall, the review revealed that the OAT Program had saved Rutgers students a cumulative estimate of $13.14 million in textbook costs, with an average savings of $203.41 per course. The majority (84%) of the courses taught by program participants continued to use the open and affordable textbooks created beyond their award period. Half (50%) of the 78 respondents indicated that they had redesigned additional courses because of their participation in OAT. Based on this response, it was estimated that, at minimum, approximately 9,960 additional students benefited from these courses. Assuming an average textbook cost of $100, one could estimate that these additional redesigned courses saved Rutgers students $996,000 in textbook costs on top of the $13.14 million in estimated savings provided directly through OAT Program awards. Faculty said the OAT program sparked creative teaching as they translated course materials into a new open and accessible format. This was illustrated in the following selected comments:
“I appreciated the opportunity this program provided me to teach my students in a non-traditional way that met their needs beyond the classroom walls.”
“The OAT program is a necessary and fantastic investment in teaching and learning at Rutgers…. This is an exemplary effort of everyday steps that we can take to make higher education more accessible for our students….”
“I appreciate participating in the OAT program. It has fundamentally changed how I think about materials for my classes—not just those for which I received support from the program but all classes. Prioritizing access has become key to resource adoption.”
“The program has been essential in enhancing my ability to teach Asian-related courses and I am deeply grateful to RU Libraries for offering me this award.”
By pausing to interrogate and assess the OAT Program, Rutgers University Libraries have strengthened its overall impact. Improving the application form ensures the capture of data that will lead to a more accurate determination of program impact. Our revision of the evaluation rubric will contribute to rigor and validation in project applications scoring. The updated program website provides returning and new participants with accurate and timely information. Lastly, the Course Redesign Awards were increased to $2,500 to inspire increased participation. These changes enable the libraries to confidently measure and communicate the OAT Program’s impact on Rutgers students, teaching, and university values.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of ARL Research & Analytics Impact Reports, which capture transformative effects of specific research library programs on students, researchers, communities, and/or the higher education/research enterprise. For more information about the Impact Reports series, contact Kevin Borden, senior director, Research and Analytics, ARL.
