Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

OpenStax Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Providing Open Educational Resources

  • By Matt Jones
  • 12/10/24

OpenStax, which expands access of K–12 and higher-education resources and research-informed educational tools, is celebrating its 25th anniversary as 2024 comes to a close, according to a news release. The educational initiative from Rice University has served almost 37 million students in 153 countries and saved students nearly $3 billion in educational costs since its launch in 1999.

OpenStax launched in 1999 as Connexions, an OER (open educational resources) repository open to the public at large to find and piece together instructional materials. In 2012, the company transitioned to OpenStax and published its first open-license, peer-reviewed college textbook. And in August of this year, OpenStax began a partnership with Google to provide its resources to Google’s Gemini AI tool.

“Celebrating 25 years of OpenStax is a testament to the power of open education and the collective commitment to making learning accessible to all,” said Richard Baraniuk, founder and director of OpenStax. “From the seeds of an idea to building a large library of OER and now to creating personalized, interactive learning tools that meet students where they are, we have been continually inspired to make an amazing education accessible to all.”

The OpenStax library consists of more than 70 comprehensive digital learning textbooks featuring culturally relevant and standards-aligned resources for both students and teachers. The organization formally expanded into the K–12 sphere in 2021.

“We’re grateful to the faculty, schools, students, funders, authors, advocates and partners who have walked this path with us and helped make OpenStax what it is today,” said OpenStax Managing Director Daniel Williamson. “We pioneered an industry built around open resources, an industry that has been shown to drive innovation and increase competition, ultimately allowing for improved student access to high-quality learning materials. Our success is a reflection of the work done by the OpenStax team, the open education community and a vast ecosystem of partners and institutions.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Arlington High School

    Arlington High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Arlington High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.