“For the first time, The University of Arizona will award MacBook Pro laptop computers to incoming students as part of their financial aid package,” Johnny Cruz reports for UANews.
“The first group of ‘MacBook Scholars’ received the new computers, preloaded with software to support the students’ academic needs, on Saturday at a celebratory event at the UA Student Union Memorial Center,” Cruz reports. “The MacBook Scholars Program, in its first year, is providing 500 freshman students with new computers to assist them in succeeding academically at the UA.”
Cruz reports, “Each MacBook Scholar receives a custom-designed Apple MacBook Pro, featuring a 13-inch monitor, 2.0-gigahertz processor and a 160-gigabyte hard drive. The laptops have been personalized for the students, with the University’s logo embossed on the laptop case and Apple’s trademark logo in UA red… In addition to the laptop – valued at $1,300 – each student also received a printer, the Apple iWork suite and an offer for a $229 rebate on an iPod touch from the UA BookStores.”
Full article here.
Time to go back to college!
Being from Tucson, this is fantastic news. Our Apple store is always packed, and UA students in general (the ones I know) love Apple gear. I know, who doesn’t love Apple gear.
Bear Down Arizona!
And those laptops should last them until they graduate. Money well spent….
My daughter was forced to buy a Dell at her school. Sux!
Hey, Jimbo…long time no see.
Jimbo, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Bear Down Arizona!
Does the Apple logo still glow on MacBooks? Not sure how brilliant a red glow would be.
This is good news for Apple, but stupid in general.
Students need to be responsible for their own gear, and financial aid meant to help with or cover such expenses should be no different when applied to computers.
@Nathan
What’s the weather like on your planet?
A computer is essential to a college student today for their academic work. These macs are part of their package, and were chosen by the school to best equip the student for the work they will encounter. At 13″, these are lower cost machines, hardly extravagant.
George Fox University in Oregon issues EVERY incoming student a Macbook. PCs are no longer an option. When students had a choice between Apple and PC laptops it went from <1% Apple in 2005, to about 10% Apple in 2006, to about 40% Apple in 2007. The university discovered that not only did the students prefer Apple laptops, but Apple made campus-wide wireless communications simple and the maintenance was next to nothing compared to PCs, so in 2008 they dropped the PC/Windows laptop option.
Run the video on this page:
http://www.georgefox.edu/college-admissions/academics/laptop-program.html
Non-scholars get a Dell with Vista and desktop covered in free AOL offers.
I believe that a $229 rebate on an ipod touch = a free ipod touch….