About OER Spark Grants

The Michelson 20MM Foundation is committed to promoting programs and policies that advance the proliferation and adoption of open educational resources to improve the affordability of instructional materials, efficacy of faculty instruction, and equitable access to educational opportunities. The foundation was launched over a decade ago when a simple news article of qualified community college students dropping out due to the cost of textbooks moved Dr. Gary K. Michelson to first provide immediate help, and then to move towards addressing the issue at scale. The subsequent $1.5 million grant to Openstax created the world's first commercial grade, openly licensed college textbooks available to students at zero cost—and set Michelson 20MM on its way.

Since then, we continue to make investments in this work through our Michelson Spark Grants program. The 2026 Open Educational Resources Spark Grants funding cycle opens on March 2nd and closes on March 16th. During this cycle, Michelson 20MM seeks to fund projects that support systems-level strategies with potential to create positive impact at scale and inform public policy. 

Focus Areas and Funding Priorities

This year, we’re focusing on projects in California and across the nation. Focus areas include:

California-specific: 

• Support the implementation of California’s historic investment in the Zero Textbook Cost degree program in the California Community College (CCC) system; This can include but is not limited to: a)Focusing on operational or technological infrastructure projects, capacity building, or professional development that scale OER impact. b) Projects that build public awareness and recognition of ZTC degrees’ impacts on campus and within communities, especially projects that have an accelerated turnaround period. c) Projects researching the impact of OER and ZTC programs, such as: 1) Efforts that analyze how OER and ZTC projects can be improved to support student success and completion. 2) Efforts that research specific student success metrics, including but limited to degree completion, grades, retention rates, career attainment
• Projects that build on ZTC degrees beyond the CCC system. Specifically, implementation plans for building on, adapting, and adopting ZTC degrees within the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems with a focus on degree pathways that serve a high volume of CCC transfer students.  
• Projects that mobilize student, faculty, and/or staff participation in passing OER and textbook affordability policies at the UC, CCC, and/or CSU systems. In addition, projects that activate or incorporate member-based organizations representing campus communities, including professional, civic, and labor organizations.

 National inclusive of California projects: 

• Research and public education around student consumer protection in the textbook marketplace, including automatic textbook billing/equitable access programs, price transparency, and student data privacy with a focus on student experience. Efforts can include projects navigating the current political landscape. This can include but is not limited to: a) Research on the prevalence and types of automatic textbook billing that is occurring within the three California public higher education systems. b) Policymakers at the system, state, and federal levels often have outdated understandings of the course materials landscape; public education is required to bring them up to speed on the current landscape and the impact it has on today’s students
• Research investigating the impacts of textbook affordability and access policies at the state and federal level, including OER funding, course marking, student consumer protection, price transparency, sustainability, and supporting educators adopting or creating OER. Across the country, states, systems of higher learning, and individual districts have worked to enact diverse policies to support student access to course materials. Understanding the impact of these policies will allow decision makers to better determine which policies are appropriate for their unique circumstances. 

Funding Cycle Details

• We will be awarding grants up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions looking for support of projects that hit one of the focus areas outlined above. Please note your project must address at least one of our focus areas in order to be considered.
• We welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.
• The Spark Grant Program is available to United States–based nonprofits and educational institutions. 

If you have any questions or need assistance while completing this form, please reach out to Natasha at grants@michelsonphilanthropies.org