MTSU program aims to lower cost of textbooks Students pay as much as $1500 a year for textbooks Grant money is helping MTSU ramp up a program that could save students as much as $1,500 a year on textbooks. and last updated 2021-02-22 23:52:18-05 MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) â A new program at Middle Tennessee State University aims to counteract the rising cost of textbooks, by saving students money. The university received $100,000 in grant money from the Tennessee Board of Regents at the end of last year to support the use of more Open Educational Resources (OER). Instead of using traditional textbooks, OER allow faculty members to publish information required for courses in an open format. This allows students to use, re-use and download the information. The resources can be accessed online for free, or printed at a significantly lower cost than a standard textbook.