Bill
H 4651
Creates an Open Educational Resource Trust Fund with grants and a no-cost digital textbooks pilot to lower college costs in Massachusetts, helping students and public colleges.
Overview
H.4651 proposes to reduce college costs in Massachusetts by creating and funding Open Educational Resources (OER) initiatives, establishing a dedicated Open Educational Resource Trust Fund, and launching a pilot program for no-cost digital textbooks. The bill aims to expand access, lower student debt, and support student success and completion through affordable curricular materials.
What the bill would do
- Define and promote open educational resources (OER) as freely accessible teaching, learning, and research materials that reside in the public domain or are available under open licenses.
- Establish the Open Educational Resource Trust Fund to develop, distribute, and support OER for university and early college course materials, with the goal of reducing education costs and alleviating related hardships (e.g., food and housing insecurity).
- Create a competitive grant program to fund OER development in public higher education and early college programs; include a Statewide OER Advisory Council to guide grant prioritization and maximize savings and equity.
- Require public institutions to inform students about OER courses funded by the Fund and implement performance reporting to track impact.
- Authorize the Commissioner of the Department of Higher Education to administer the Fund and expend money for OER activities without additional appropriation, including curricular materials, professional development, technical assistance, and related staff.
- Enable receipts from appropriations, gifts, grants, and interest to be credited to the Fund; funds would not revert to the General Fund at year-end and would not require reauthorization for ongoing use (within annual appropriations).
- Authorize a pilot program under Chapter 15A to provide no-cost digital textbooks or other digital learning materials, with criteria to maximize savings, ensure high-quality, easily accessible, machine-readable digital content, and support reductions in the cost of digital materials.
Key provisions and mechanisms
- Open Educational Resources defined and incorporated into the law (Section 10, Chapter 15A).
- New Open Educational Resource Trust Fund established within Chapter 29 (Section 2KKKKKK); governance via the Department of Higher Education and the Statewide OER Advisory Council.
- Fund uses authorized to develop, adapt, purchase, publish, distribute, and support OER; includes staff and technical assistance.
- Competitive OER grants with department review, advisory input, and KPI reporting requirements for recipients.
- Institutions must inform students about OER-funded courses; OER impact measured through department-defined KPIs.
- No-cost digital textbooks pilot program under Section 50 of Chapter 15A, with explicit criteria to maximize savings, quality, accessibility, and no-cost download.
Who is affected
- Public institutions of higher education in Massachusetts and early college programs.
- Faculty and instructional designers involved in curriculum development and OER implementation.
- Department of Higher Education (as administrator) and the Statewide OER Advisory Council.
- Massachusetts students, who would benefit from lower material costs and clearer information about OER options.
Procedural and timeline notes
- Introduced: October 27, 2025.
- Status: Reported favorably by the House Committee on Higher Education and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means; a new draft related to H.1427 is noted in the same round of actions.
- Effective date and funding depend on future appropriations and the outcomes of the pilot program and grant processes.
In sum, H.4651 seeks to reduce college costs via a dedicated OER fund, grant programs, campus reporting, and a no-cost digital textbooks pilot, with a strong emphasis on equity, affordability, and student success.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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