Local 12: UC Clermont professor creates free textbook for students to make higher education more affordable

In 2020, Goedl watched the average cost of a digital accounting textbook soar from approximately $30 per student to more than $200. Students were struggling to afford the resource they needed to succeed in class.

At first, Goedl negotiated with the publisher to decrease the cost of the textbook; but soon, the price rose again.

So, she created her own.

“Principles of Managerial Accounting” is now published as an OER, or open-education resource, by University of Cincinnati Press. The open-access digital textbook, which features videos, quizzes and other interactive features, is peer-reviewed and available for free to anyone through the UC Press website.

"I don't need the profit," Goedl told Local 12. "It was more important for me to give this to students who need the textbook more than I need the textbook revenue.”

Goedl’s free textbook has helped countless students, including Aly Bonawitz, a single mother and full-time online student who also works a full-time job. She says textbook price tags have made her reassess her priorities.

"That's groceries for a week for my daughter, or that's clothing for my daughter for when she starts school," said Bonawitz, a UC Clermont sophomore majoring in marketing and business management.

Watch and read the full story from Local 12.

Read more about Goedl.

Featured image at top: UC Clermont Professor Patty Goedl teaches an accounting class on campus. Photo/Danny Kidd