UNM awarded a $1.55 million Open Textbook Pilot Grant
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The University of New Mexico has received a federal Open Textbook Grant for $1.55 million, recognizing its commitment to advancing education through Open Educational Resources (OER). With this grant funding, UNM will expand the New Mexico Open Educational Resources (NMOER) Consortium, which aims to help faculty across the state adopt, adapt, and create open-access materials.
About the Grant and Its Results
This grant is one of four Open Textbook Pilot grants awarded nationwide in 2026 and administered by the Department of Labor on behalf of the Department of Education. NMOER began in 2024, with an initial $2.124 million Open Textbook Pilot grant award ending in 2026. In the first two years of the NMOER program (2024-2025), the program served more than 15,000 students, generated over $1.86 million in cumulative textbook savings, grew OER course adoption by 302 percent, and produced a 6.4 percentage-point reduction in course failure and withdrawal rates.
"Every student should have a fair shot at earning a degree without being held back by the increasing cost of textbooks. That's why I secured more than $1.5 million to help UNM expand access to no cost course materials, including textbooks, to put more money back in students' pockets," said Sen. Martin Heinrich, member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.
Without an extension, NMOER would have run out of funding. UNM University Libraries OER Librarian, Jennifer Jordan, is the principal investigator for the program, and Elisha Allen, UNM director of Online Strategies and Academic Technologies, will be a co-PI.
"Renewed funding will enable our program to flourish atop the foundation we have built with professional development and publishing processes already in place," said Jordan. The program will build on state investments in equitable education, including the NM Opportunity Scholarship, the NM Lottery Scholarship, State Bill 192, and the 2023 FIPSE OTP Grant.
What OER Is and How NMOER Works
According to UNESCO, Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials in any format or medium in the public domain or released under an open license. OER has recently been named a High-Impact Practice by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Open licenses allow others to access, use, adapt, and redistribute the materials for free, creating more equitable learning on the first day of learning. NMOER's goal is to support New Mexico educators to access and develop OER aligned with student outcomes and the New Mexico General Education Curriculum. NMOER aims to create a more equitable learning environment by reducing financial barriers and supporting more positive learning experiences for New Mexico students.
Members of the NMOER consortium include Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU), Northern New Mexico College (NNMC), Santa Fe Community College (SFCC), Southeast New Mexico College (SENMC), and The University of New Mexico (UNM). This latest grant will enable NMOER to allocate funding and resources to faculty at two additional schools.
"Having free, open-access course materials available on the very first day of class removes an obstacle that can derail a student's academic progress," said Martin Shupla, library director, Northern New Mexico College. "When students wait weeks to purchase expensive textbooks or wait for financial aid disbursements, they quickly fall behind in coursework, leading to higher rates of course withdrawal and failure."
The program works like this:
* Faculty across NM institutions develop proposals to create and pilot OER for core courses like chemistry, composition, and education. Materials can be refined and reused in future semesters.
* NMOER hosts a hub that provides a community of practice, OER expertise, workshops for faculty, mini-grants to support OER projects, and on-ramps to joining the consortium.
* UNM Press provides editing, design, and publishing support.
* The initiative prioritizes student success, access, and workforce readiness.
* OER is leveraged as a High-Impact Practice to improve student retention, timely degree completion, and learning.
Looking Ahead
Phase II of the program will also integrate AI into professional development to build pedagogical skills and increase subject matter knowledge. The overall goal of the program is to help New Mexico higher education students afford college, learn relevant workforce skills and outcomes, and obtain jobs within the state. Through 2028, NMOER will increase OER projects and students' savings. For more information about the NMOER Consortium, visit nmoer.org.
Through Nov. 1, UNM faculty can apply to transition their courses to OER through the University Libraries' call for proposals.