Open Education 2017

Montgomery College's commitment to developing OER (z-degree) options is a desire to increase access, affordability, and success for Montgomery County's diverse population, particularly students who are marginalized or underrepresented. Montgomery College's mission and vision emphasize empowering students to change their lives and being an model of educational excellence, opportunity and success. Through a collegewide initiative MC Open, Montgomery College is providing students with the ability to save money on instructional materials while at the same time decreasing the time to degree completion. The first full semester of promoting z-courses through MC Open resulted in more than 3,400 enrollments in about 200 course sections. In concert with MC Open, Montgomery College is developing General Studies A. A. degree options with funding from Achieving the Dream. The initial General Studies OER degree options focus on two transfer paths with in the program, Psychology and English although students are not limited to those transfer options. The General Studies degree typically serves 9,000 students each semester, but courses within the z-degree impact over 25,000 students each semester because the majority of the selected courses meet General Education requirements for any student.The College hopes that the General Studies OER Degree project will help more students complete degrees by increasing access to affordable, quality material; by using open materials and instructional strategies which target a diverse range of learning styles and interests; by decreasing overall student costs, and by providing model paths for students to complete a General Studies A.A. degree.