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H.R. 3538: Affordable College Textbook Act

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H.R. 3538: Affordable College Textbook Act

113th Congress · introduced 2013-11-19 · Education · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2013-11-19 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Rep. Hinojosa, Ruben [D-TX-15] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Affordable College Textbook Act

Plain summary

Affordable College Textbook Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support pilot programs that expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students. Requires the grants to be used for: professional development for IHE faculty and staff, including the search for and review of open textbooks; the creation or adaptation of open educational resources, especially open textbooks; the development or improvement of tools and informational resources that support the use of open textbooks; research evaluating the efficacy of using open textbooks to achieve savings for students; and partnerships with other entities to carry out the preceding activities. Requires the full and complete digital content of the educational resources created or adopted using such grant funds to be made available free of charge to the public: (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable website; and (2) in a machine readable, digital format that anyone can directly download, edit, and redistribute. Directs the Secretary to give special consideration to grant applicants that demonstrate the greatest potential to: achieve the highest level of savings for students; expand the use of open textbooks at other IHEs; and produce open textbooks that are of the highest quality, that can be most easily utilized and adapted by faculty members, that correspond to the highest enrollment courses, and that are created or adopted in partnership with entities that will assist in their marketing and distribution. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include any educational material developed to accompany a college textbook as supplemental material that is subject to college textbook information disclosure requirements. Expresses the sense of Congress that IHEs should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by faculty within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom that establish the right and responsibility of faculty members to select the most appropriate course materials for their classes.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Affordable College Textbook Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Hinojosa, Ruben [D-TX-15] · 47 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Juan Vargas (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Al Green (D-TX), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Jim Costa (D-CA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Bill Foster (D-IL)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Appropriation
Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong113-hr3538 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113