West Virginia expands college affordability with $250,000 in OER Challenge Grants

For many West Virginia families, every dollar counts - especially when it comes to college. The cost of textbooks alone can keep students from taking dual enrollment classes or continuing their education after high school. Since 2021, West Virginia students have saved nearly $10 million from statewide efforts to reduce textbook costs through Open Education Resource (OER). Every public college and university in the state now offers courses that use OER, which are low-or-no-cost instructional materials that replace traditional, costly textbooks with more relevant and up-to-date options.

Now, the state is helping to spread and strengthen the free learning materials already in use so that more West Virginia students - from high schoolers to adult learners - can benefit. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System have awarded $250,000 inOpen Education Resource Challenge Grants to ten faculty-led projects across nine colleges and universities. The goal: to make learning more affordable and accessible for every student in West Virginia.

In a survey of nearly 13,000 participating students, 98 percent reported that the OER course materials were easy to access, and 91 percent said having low- or no-cost options is important to their academic success.

"When students in rural communities can start college without worrying about textbook prices, it changes what's possible for them," said Dr. Sarah Armstrong Tucker, West Virginia's Chancellor of Higher Education. "These projects are about more than saving money - they're about helping more West Virginians see college as something that belongs to them."

Several projects are focused on dual enrollment programs, giving high school students the opportunity to earn college credit without the added cost of textbooks:

• Chris Ward, Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College - Southern's project will transform its dual enrollment program by transitioning all math and science courses in approved pathways to no-cost OER. The initiative will impact 1,155 dual credit enrollments across ten courses, significantly reducing costs for both dual enrollment and traditional students.
  
• Shelia Sargent-Martin, Bluefield State University - Bluefield State's project aims to transition dual enrollment courses in the College of Arts, Education, and Social Sciences to OER this coming academic year, with additional courses launching in Fall 2026. The initiative includes faculty professional development to build long-term capacity for OER use, adaptation, and creation, aiming for zero- and low-textbook cost degree pathways.
  
• Katie Bowe, Concord University - Concord's project will expand affordable learning by integrating OER into high-enrollment general education and dual enrollment LevelUp courses, with inclusion of UNIV 100, the freshman seminar. The initiative features an OER Showcase and departmental roundtables to increase adoption and, share strategies to expand efforts, supported by faculty training in Creative Commons licensing, AI-enhanced content development, and open pedagogy best practices.

Beyond dual enrollment, this year's Challenge Grants support projects that strengthen teaching, workforce readiness, and innovation statewide:

• Molly Simonton, Marshall University - Marshall will develop an open-access "Foundations of Deaf Culture" course that expands access to Deaf culture and communication education across high schools, colleges, and adult learning programs, addressing the state's shortage of interpreters and Deaf/Hard of Hearing educators.
  
• Eveldora Wheeler, West Liberty University - The project will expand OER use across the General Education curriculum as part of a long-term effort to make completion of the Regents Bachelor of Arts (RBA) degree completely zero-textbook cost.
  
• Rana Spurlock, West Virginia Northern Community College - This project will focus on completing development of three Zero-Textbook Cost Degree programs in Criminal Justice, Computer Information Technology, and Education by Fall 2026, with aligned transfer pathways and open pedagogy.
  
• Monica Wilson, Eastern West Virginia Community and Technical College - This project will build a sustainable culture of OER adoption by developing two new zero-textbook cost degree programs in Allied Health and General Studies, expanding on the success of Eastern's Cyber-Intelligence Z-Degree.
  
• Robert Szarka, Shepherd University - Shepherd will be expanding the Business Administration Z-Degree and create tools, training, and statewide distribution systems so other institutions can easily adapt OER-based courses.
  
• JuHyeong Ryu of, West Virginia University will create "PAITA," the Personal AI Teaching Assistant for West Virginia, a student-authored open assignment bank that builds AI literacy through 15 teaching modules available at no cost for use statewide.
  
• Yong-Lak Park of, West Virginia University will develop digital OER field guides that document 80,000 insect species native to West Virginia using AI, enhancing teaching and research resources in biology and ecology across all WV institutions.

As Open Learning WV continues to grow, the Commission remains committed to supporting faculty and institutions in their efforts to make higher education more affordable, accessible, and student-centered. Faculty interested in learning more about Open Learning WV can visit https://wvclimb.com/about-oer/ or contact the Higher Education Policy Commission at 304-558-2101.