Open Educational Resources - Affordable Learning $olutions
The CSU's Affordable Learning Solutions ("AL$") is supported by the Chancellor's Office grant initiatives and functions to reduce student cost for course materials. This initiative is designed to help make college more affordable by expanding faculty adoption of high-quality free or low-cost open education resources (OER) in place of commercial textbooks. OER includes open licensed textbooks and materials as well as web-based resources (texts, multimedia, interactive) that reside in the public domain. The initiative contributes to Cal Poly's efforts to improve graduation rates as well as to make the campus more inclusive by reducing the cost of earning a Cal Poly degree.
Also see: CTLT: Affordable Learning Solutions and Kennedy Library: Affordable Course Materials.
Overview
The CSU's open educational materials grant initiative ("Affordable Learning Solutions" aka "AL$") has a core purpose of supporting faculty in reducing course materials costs for students while maintaining course quality. This program contributes to Cal Poly’s efforts to make the campus more diverse, more equitable, and more inclusive -- and more academically engaging by making a Cal Poly degree more affordable for students.
Please contact Dianna Winslow with any questions about information on this page: diwinslo@calpoly.edu
Interested in exploring OERs for your courses? Self-enroll in the OER Faculty Roadmap Canvas module.
OER Faculty Associates
Call for AY 2026-27 participation coming soon!
Current OER Adopter Support
If you are already using open educational resources in your teaching, we would like to provide you with support and recognition as part of the AL$ Initiative. You are already contributing to an important campus goal of reducing the expenses (and thus the hurdles) for student success in earning a Cal Poly degree. Keeping track of the savings that you have created for your students through the Initiative will help you get appropriate recognition and add to Cal Poly's record of growing savings that assists Cal Poly with future funding.
