Textbook prices have risen by over 800%—three times the inflation rate over the past 50 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And a study from the Florida Virtual Campus documented that 47% of the student population took fewer courses due to the cost of their textbooks and 66% reported not purchasing a required textbook, with 37% of those students earning a poor grade and 19% failing the course. In the latest in our series of practitioner perspectives on Open Educational Resources (OER), Kevin Corcoran, executive director of digital learning at the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, explores how institutions, systems and states have adopted “course designators,” to help students understand which courses use OER or low-cost course materials.