The Affordable College Textbook Act seeks to alleviate the financial burden of college textbooks on students by promoting and expanding the use of open educational resources. It addresses the rising cost of textbooks, which has been a significant barrier to higher education, by establishing a federal grant program and improving price transparency. The bill recognizes the potential of open educational resources to save students substantial amounts annually while maintaining or improving instructional quality. A central provision of the bill is the creation of an Open Textbook Grant Program , administered by the Secretary of Education. This competitive program awards grants to eligible entities, such as institutions of higher education or consortia, to support projects that expand open textbook use. Applicants must submit detailed plans for promoting and tracking open textbook adoption, identifying content gaps, ensuring quality review, assessing impact on learning outcomes, and disseminating project results. Special consideration is given to applications demonstrating the greatest potential for student savings, broader adoption, and the creation of high-quality, easily adaptable open textbooks for high-enrollment courses. Grant funds can be used for various activities, including professional development for faculty, the creation or adaptation of open textbooks, and the development of supplemental materials, including accessible resources for students with disabilities. Any new copyrightable works created with grant funds must be released under a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and irrevocable open license, requiring only attribution. These open textbooks and materials must be made publicly available free of charge on an easily accessible, interoperable website in a machine-readable, editable, and accessible digital format. Beyond grants, the bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enhance textbook price information and transparency . It expands the definition of an open educational resource and requires publishers to disclose whether a textbook is an open educational resource and provide a summary of student data collection and usage terms for digital materials. Institutions of higher education are mandated to disclose the retail price, fees, OER status, and a link to data privacy terms for all required and recommended course materials on their internet course schedules. Furthermore, institutions must assist college bookstores in obtaining course material information to help source lower-cost options and maximize format availability for students. The bill also includes reporting requirements to ensure accountability and track progress. Grant recipients must submit reports on project effectiveness, student savings, and impact on learning outcomes. The Secretary of Education is required to submit annual reports to Congress detailing the open textbooks created, their adoption rates, and the savings generated. Finally, the Comptroller General is tasked with conducting a report within three years to examine textbook costs, the implementation of the transparency amendments, and the overall impact of open textbooks on higher education.