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NASHVILLE (AP) — The board that oversees Tennessee’s community colleges is giving more than $300,000 to seven colleges to create free learning materials in efforts to reduce the costs associated with buying textbooks.
The Tennessee Board of Regents said Wednesday that the grants will be distributed to faculty and staff teams who will create learning materials in anatomy and physiology, English composition, Tennessee history, U.S. history, psychology, public speaking and mathematics.
The board said high textbook costs are forcing some students to take fewer courses and causing some students to earn poor grades because they cannot afford the required materials.
The grant program seeks to increase access to higher education for underrepresented students, the board said. The learning materials will be available for student use starting in fall 2021.
Community colleges receiving the grants are Chattanooga State, Columbia State, Nashville State, Northeast State, Pellissippi State, Roane State and Southwest Tennessee.