# 119-hr-6686: No Cost Educational Resources Act of 2025

119-hr-6686, No Cost Educational Resources Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11] (D-IL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6686
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-6686
- Congress: 119
- Title: No Cost Educational Resources Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-12-12
- Sponsor: Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Creates federal grants to make required STEM course readings free by supporting openly licensed digital texts.** The bill authorizes a new grant program at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to fund adoption, adaptation, and creation of open educational reading materials for higher education STEM courses. - Students: Encourages more STEM classes to use only free digital required readings, aiming to lower out-of-pocket costs for students who take those courses. - Colleges and libraries: Institutions of higher education can receive grants that assign library administrators and librarians to lead implementation and use library resources to support open materials. - Faculty: Grants reward and protect faculty time to adopt, adapt, or create open readings through incentives like monetary awards or dedicated work time. - Low-income and minority students: The Director must give priority to colleges that enroll many low-income or minority students, increasing access where costs often burden households. - Oversight and results: IMLS must report within two years after the first grant on how many grants were made, whether more STEM courses use open readings, and how much students saved.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Free digital textbooks for STEM students: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create an IMLS grant program to expand free digital textbooks for STEM courses. It would define open educational reading materials as free digital texts you can download and share. Colleges would apply with plans led by librarians and made with STEM faculty. Grants would…
- New limits on IMLS grants: mixed, low. If enacted, the bill would change a rule so the Director's authority under one section must follow the new open-text grant rules. This makes actions under that subsection explicitly subject to the special procedures. It mainly affects IMLS procedures and grant applicants and would not directly chan…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-hr-5862: American Energy Independence and Affordability Act
- 119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-6686 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6686)

## Related
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-7853: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7853)
- [119-hr-5862: American Energy Independence and Affordability Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5862)
- [119-hr-5361: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-5361)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-6686 (as of 2026-04-21).