West Hills College Lemoore wins $2 million grant

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- West Hills College in Lemoore is winning big. The Valley school was recently awarded a $2 million grant.

Sophomore Vivian Navarro says the cost of textbooks was always a concern.

"When I came here, I was like, what am I going to do for books," said Navarro.

Thanks to the Open Education Resource efforts at West Hills College Lemoore, she didn't have to worry for long.

"Out of my two years, I've never had to pay for a book," said Navarro.

Fifty percent of courses at West Hills College Lemoore are zero textbook cost and now with a $2 million grant, they're hoping to raise that percentage.

"Textbooks tend to cost students quite a bit, especially in comparison to the cost of attendance at a community college," explained West Hills College Lemoore President Kristin Clark.

"The goal over the next three years is to develop 20 open and free textbooks that can be shared throughout our state, and then shared with Hispanic serving institutions throughout the United States," said VP of Educational Services James Preston.

The grant will allow West Hills College Lemoore to continue their OER efforts, providing a valuable curriculum free of charge to students.

"It takes a lot of the pressure off of me because now I have gas money, money to buy a laptop a tablet," said student Yaritza Bejarano.

The grant was provided by the Department of Education for West Hills College Lemoore.