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The University of Regina is piloting a project to make some textbooks free for its students and better tailored to the specific courses it offers.

The open textbook program will provide instructors with funding to develop free, digital academic materials as well as adapt material from other universities to their needs. It is targeting first- and second-year courses.

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The program is a “good way to invest in education so that it has a broad impact on students,” said Bruce Walsh, president and publisher of the U of R Press, which is overseeing the project. He repeatedly emphasized the cost-saving benefits: Students can spend hundreds of dollars per semester on textbooks.

“It’s going to level the playing field between the have’s and have-nots, and give people who don’t have money access to knowledge in a way that has never been possible,” said Walsh.

Devon Peters, president of the University of Regina Students’ Union, said the cost of textbooks has led to students increasingly relying on pirated or international versions that don’t contain the same content as those professors prescribe. Instructors are also becoming reluctant to use textbooks in their classes, he added.