Federal funding is helping Washington state develop free, openly licensed textbooks for students in professional-technical programs.
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) received a new $1.99 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Open Textbook Pilot Program to expand the statewide Open ProfTech initiative.
This marks SBCTC's third award through the competitive federal program, bringing Washington's total grant funding to about $6 million. SBCTC was one of only four organizations nationwide selected for funding in the latest award cycle.
“This third federal award reflects the strength of Washington's commitment to making higher education more affordable and accessible,” said SBCTC Executive Director Nate Humphrey. “By investing in openly licensed textbooks for workforce programs, we're helping our colleges reduce financial barriers for students while supporting the education and training needs of Washington's workforce.”
About the Washington Open ProfTech Initiative
Washington Open ProfTech addresses a longstanding gap in open educational resources: The limited availability of comprehensive, high-quality textbooks for professional-technical programs. While open textbooks have become increasingly common in general education courses, students preparing for careers in specialized and applied fields often still rely on expensive commercial textbooks.
Through Washington Open ProfTech, SBCTC works with faculty authors to develop free, openly licensed textbooks and supporting instructional materials specifically for professional-technical education.
The new grant will expand the initiative into additional high-demand workforce fields,
including healthcare, public safety, advanced manufacturing, and other specialized
technical disciplines.
The new grant will also support the integration of industry-specific artificial intelligence
(AI) applications into each textbook, helping students understand how AI is being
used in their respective fields. In addition, the project will develop a toolkit to
help educators incorporate AI-assisted approaches into the creation of open textbooks.
“We’re honored to receive this award for the third time,” said SBCTC Project Director Dr. Boyoung Chae. “This continued support reflects the importance of expanding open educational resources for professional-technical programs, where affordable textbook options remain limited. We’re excited to build on the success of our previous work and continue making high-quality learning materials more accessible to students and educators.”
Because the textbooks will be openly licensed and freely available, their impact can extend beyond the grant period, benefiting colleges, educators, and students across Washington and the nation.
