Long-term effects of OER Incentive Programs?

[Brandon Board]

Hi all,

I’ve been looking for research on the long-term effects of OER incentive programs on overall adoption rates, but haven’t had much luck so far. Most of what I’ve found focuses on the immediate impact (“we provided stipends to X number of faculty who adopted open textbooks”), but I haven’t seen much that looks beyond those initial outcomes.

What I’m particularly interested in are studies or data that track adoption rates before and after incentive programs were introduced.  For example, “after five years of offering faculty incentives, OER usage increased from X% of courses to Y%.”  Does anyone know of existing research along those lines? Or, if you have your own institutional data that speaks to this, would you be willing to share?

Thanks,

Brandon

Brandon Board, MLIS | Digital Services Coordinator

Waubonsee Community College Libraries

Sugar Grove, Illinois

630.466.6643

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[Amy Hofer]

Hi Brandon, 

As Joe says, it would be tricky to establish causation between incentive programs and overall OER adoption. That said, in Oregon we do see a correlation. For example, many of the 1000-plus adoptions recorded on the Open Oregon Resources page (https://openoregon.org/resources) are from people who have not participated with our program for a stipend but chose to adopt on their own. 

We also have data on our no-cost/low-cost schedule designation. This is at an even further remove, because it doesn't track OER adoption - OER is a subset of no or low cost course materials. That said, the percentage of courses in Oregon with the no-cost/low-cost schedule designation has more than tripled since we started tracking this in the 2017-19 biennium. At the reporting institutions, 43% of courses offered were designated no-cost or low-cost in the 2023-25 biennium, up from 12% in 2017-19. Some of this is increased adoption of no cost and low cost course materials, and some is better tracking and reporting :) More info: https://openoregon.org/estimated-2023-25-student-savings/

FYI, 

Amy  

On Fri, Oct 3, 2025 at 7:59 AM Joe Karaganis <joe.ka...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Brandon -- 

We track OER adoption rates over time. It's not connected to incentives data, but it is easy to see the impact of big initiatives like the California 2-year program.  Recent summary here, and you can create an account and play with the data yourself.

Best,

Joe Karaganis

Director, Open Syllabus

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Open Oregon Educational Resources

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[Nathan Smith]

Hi Brandon,

This study is almost 5 years old now, but it employs really solid methods and the results are a propos of your question: https://achievingthedream.org/oer-at-scale-the-academic-and-economic-outcomes-of-the-oer-degree-initiative/

Hope that helps,

Nathan

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