11 Colleges That Give Students iPads (PHOTOS)

While the Kindle was widely declared a flop by the colleges that used it, some schools have higher hopes for the iPad as a classroom tool -- so they're giving them to students, and sometimes for free. According to CNN, these colleges see Apple's newest toy as " a collaborative tool, a standardized mobile device to integrate into curriculums, and, in some cases, even a cost-saving device."

Check out which schools gift students with an iPad below (in return for their decision to enroll).

What do you think? Do you have an iPad? Will you use it for schoolwork? Weigh in below.

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Seton Hill University

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In March, Seton Hill University in Pennyslvania announced that it will give the Class of 2014 free iPads for classwork.

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In March, Seton Hill University in Pennyslvania announced that it will give the Class of 2014 free iPads for classwork.

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Ridiculous. AWESOME!

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Comments

[Amyli]

02:36 AM on 08/31/2010

Yeah, What Great is an iPad! and it got office apps can do the office work, iWork is not bad.
It’s an incredibly tactile machine & not just in the obvious sense. I’ve found it’s portability from room to room, chair to floor, sofa to bed etc very liberating. It’s a wonderfully designed device. Honestly, I haven’t had cause to find much lacking in it all. Granted I don’t expect it do everything, but so far it’s served a purpose for anything I wanted to use it for. I’m really looking forward to seeing the form & function evolve.
Hope the student all can see the form & function evolve and make full use of it.
Some iPad tips: http://www.ifunia.com/ipad-column/index.html

[daddio42]

03:45 PM on 08/29/2010

This is a marketing gimmick. What good is an iPad, you need MS Office.

[netaholic13]

05:10 AM on 08/29/2010

it's just another marketing gimmick from the campus

[JohnCowMilk]

09:42 AM on 08/27/2010

LOL! It's obvious from the majority of the posts, that many of the commentors:

1) Abhor technology that they neither understand nor can afford.

2) Mistakingly believe that the schools are claiming to be providing iPads "at no charge."

3) Never have used an iPad but feel they have a valuable opinion to offer.

4) Never attended a college but feel they have a valuable opinion to offer.

5) Probably never SHOULD attend a college.

[daddio42]

03:44 PM on 08/29/2010

Gee you are a smart guy, you must have went to college.

[BethCarter320]

05:04 PM on 08/26/2010

I don't understand why schools give an iPad as an incentive to apply when you are paying so much in tuition. Maybe less tuition would be an incentive? Of course the iPad is not free. The cost will be rolled up into some sort of fee. Plus, an iPad is not that useful. According to this post http://blog.oppapers.com/should-you-buy-an-e-reader-or-textbooks/, e-readers can't replace textbooks yet which is what they would be most beneficial for.

[Forester]

07:02 PM on 08/25/2010

Lesson #1 for incoming Freshmen: Nothing is free.

[PoliticalRockChick]

06:21 AM on 08/28/2010

That's what I was about to say. When they graduate they'll see the bill, misc fee $599.99

[blytzd]

03:51 PM on 08/25/2010

Feee i-Pad my arse. Nothing in college is free. Higher tuition is paying for it or maybe its that $600 technology fee.

[Dameocrat]

02:05 AM on 08/23/2010

They don't give the students anything. They tack it on as a mandatory fee and make the kids pay far more than they would have pay if they bought their own computer at a store.

[CtDude]

03:19 AM on 08/21/2010

Scam Alert!
I don't know about the other schools, but it certainly sounds like Seton Hill is using the "free iPad" idea to jack some serious cash out of its students:

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Seton-Hill-to-Offer-iPads-to/22153/

"Students will be charged an additional $500 per semester in fees for the new technology program, and the university says it has absorbed the cost of the iPads."

So that "free" iPad is actually costing students $500 per semester that the school claims is needed for bandwith and IT upgrades. The school is hitting each student for $1000 per year, but it's trumpeting the fact that it paid for the iPads.

Isn't that noble of them.

[Samswriting]

09:01 PM on 08/20/2010

Although it would have been really great if my school was one of the colleges given away iPads, I do agree with the comments here. If colleges are willing to spend that much money on luring new students in, why not just deduct it from tuition?

[College Advice]

10:41 PM on 08/23/2010

Note: "Samswriting" is now College Advice.

[maab76]

10:22 AM on 08/30/2010

You are ignoring the other issues with a single-unit for textbook and written assignment service. The number of trees that will be cut to provide paper and the ink with which to print them is an item to be discussed relative to the destruction of the planet. A second option to be considered is the weight of the books assigned and the physical cost to carrying them around. The weight of textbooks is high and detrimental to body health - the weight of the backpack on bodies causes many skeletal stress injuries: try carrying around a full backpack for only one day and experience the pain and fatigue related to it. Then add your personal computer and at least one music instrument and groan again.

In addition, consider the high schools that are already using the technology in deference to the above items and give it another thought. The District 219 high schools in surburban Chicago are using the technology with the celebration of the parents I have talked with. Must find out if the feeder elementary districts have also been early adopters.

[chumt1]

07:58 PM on 08/20/2010

They're not "free". They come out of student fees.

[GoDogGo]

01:50 PM on 08/20/2010

If you don't like this idea or want to whine about the cost, don't go to a private school! Pretty simple.

But remember, distributing text books in paper vs. a tablet (any tablet soon) is an incredibly expensive proposition. Given that instant updates, video and various interactive learning tools are integrated into this platform, it's a great learning tool regardless of your feelings toward the brand.

[czs5056]

06:11 PM on 08/19/2010

if penn state tried to give me one i would just demand that they give me lower tuition. and if they refused sell it to some poor apple cult person who spent all their money on apple and now don't have the money to buy an ipad

[Andra Claudia Garcia]

01:12 AM on 08/20/2010

this is a very good plan

[GoDogGo]

01:46 PM on 08/20/2010

What if the books they were distributing by iPad were going to cost you three times as much as the device?

The reason they're doing this isn't novelty, it's cost and time savings. If you're an Apple hater, so be it, but tablets will off major efficiencies and the iPad just happens to be here today.

[czs5056]

04:33 PM on 08/20/2010

i'll have a friend read the book to me and i will dictate my responses to them so they can put it in. and being that it's penn state they would do it for novelty. for instance they just bought a frat house for $1.7 million and they are demolishing it and turning it into grass, they built the IST building recently and it is already literally sinking into the ground and they also recently build the Forestry building which is already developing cracks in the floor because they decided to build it over a sink hole (both less then 10 years old and costing over $10 million each) and they finished building a life sciences and chem building in 2006 and are already building a new life sciences building next door to it as a stand alone building. so yea at penn state it is a novelty (spoken as a student who gave a speech on penn state's spending for CAS 100A)

[ixington]

04:47 PM on 08/19/2010

UC Irvine also..

[David Hewitt]

09:39 PM on 08/20/2010

Med School only.

[jwwrox]

04:31 PM on 08/19/2010

Seems rather insignificant when you can go somewhere and get one for $500.

How about chop $500 off everyone's tuition?

[wilray]

05:01 PM on 08/19/2010

I'm certain they add $500 onto the tuition to cover the cost of the free iPad

[Angelus2007]

01:41 PM on 08/20/2010

I agree, a friend of mine went to Stevens Insitiute of Technology in 1999 or 2000, and they were given a laptop, and it was included in tuition, but tuition went up. Although it went up about $700 and they got a $1000 so it saved them a few hundred, and any grants and scholarships at least cover it also.

[maab76]

10:25 AM on 08/30/2010

Have you purchased text books lately? In 1989 a single class set of textbooks was over $200.00. By my experience, I'd consider the I-pad a bargain. Besides, it weighs less than the books I had to buy!

[GoDogGo]

01:06 PM on 08/21/2010

That $500 is a drop in the bucket, particularly when some of it is offset by lower book costs and the need for a lower spec computer.