Apple Teams Up With the University of Nevada, Reno to Give Every Freshman a Free iPad Air

[hot-gril]

US is up there with other top unis around the world. There are a few from the UK, and a few other places around the world in the top 20. The US is still the most expensive.
Say we use the top non US uni, uni of Oxford in the UK. For UK/ RoI citizens it’s £9000 a year (~US$12,000). For a 3 year degree it’s $36,000. Can get a top education for half the price of a comparable uni in the USA. And that comes with a free, low interest Loan (3%+ interest) from the government paid based on your income not based on what you owe

Oxford is comparable for some areas but not for others. Like for computer science or physics, it's no contest. UCB, MIT, Stanford, and CMU together dominate most of those and other STEM fields. I'd go to Oxford for political science, I guess.

 

[hot-gril]

If it works out, then why all the complaints about crushing student loan debt and sky-high tuition?

Pretty terrible outcome for everybody when tuition skyrockets through the roof because of government interference in loans. I fail to see how that's good for anyone except the schools. The current system screws everyone else.

People complain about everything despite doing fine, that's why. Or they want to go to college but don't have a real reason to.

 

[mi7chy]

Would've been a better decision if they gave students a choice between iPad or laptop. Or, at the very least a poll to understand how students feel about the decision being made for them and taking things into consideration like major, if iPad is sufficient to pursue their major and if they're keeping it or selling to get what they need.

 

[hot-gril]

Would've been a better decision if they gave students a choice between iPad or laptop. Or, at the very least a poll to understand how students feel about the decision being made for them and taking things into consideration like major, if iPad is sufficient to pursue their major and if they're keeping it or selling to get what they need.

Those are two very different things. IMO, should just be laptop. Covers all the use cases, and students know how to use them already.

 

[mi7chy]

Those are two very different things. IMO, should just be laptop. Covers all the use cases, and students know how to use them already.

Sounds like you're a CS/EE major so laptop would be obvious but for other majors like liberal arts (minus math), nursing, etc. a laptop might be overkill when maybe all they need is a simple tablet and/or they prefer a lighter although more limited device but with longer battery life. Instead of forcing one or the other, maybe treat university students like adults and give them a choice since they probably have a good idea what works best for them.

 

[Altis]

It isn't free; you're being compelled to buy it through your fees.

While it may work for some programs, laptops work infinitely better for most. In engineering, sciences, and statistics, almost all of the software we use is for Windows and Linux. The form factor of a small tablet is also very poor for student workflows... often need multiple screens, many windows open at once. Using an iPad for school is my idea of a nightmare, which is probably why I so rarely have seen them in lectures or around campus.

For me, it's laptop and pencil/pen+paper, with a docked desktop setup at home (or desktop PC) for more screen real estate and improved ergonomics.

 

[hot-gril]

Sounds like you're a CS/EE major so laptop would be obvious but for other majors like liberal arts (minus math), nursing, etc. a laptop might be overkill when maybe all they need is a simple tablet and/or they prefer a lighter although more limited device but with longer battery life. Instead of forcing one or the other, maybe treat university students like adults and give them a choice since they probably have a good idea what works best for them.

Overkill doesn't mean it doesn't work, and the battery life will be long enough either way. IDK about UNR, but most unis don't put you on a super narrow track for your major, rather you end up taking a variety of courses and might need the laptop for some. And many students go in undecided.

If you want to really treat them like adults, scrap the entire program and let them buy their own stuff, but they're basically kids. I mean, in college we were forced onto a meal plan.

 

[Zoboomafoo]

That's for "cheaper" universities. Tuition for Ivy League schools can be double that.

16k a semester at Ivy League? That’s sadly wishful thinking

 

[The Barron]

For a second I thought „cool“ but then I realized the US has tuition fees and so I checked and yep it’s over 8,000$+ per Semester 😳

Tuition fees have absolutely NOTHING to do with this Apple offer.

 

[spenceralger]

I really want a yellow iPad now

 

[SBlue1]

I didn’t get my free iPad back then so why do these spoiled kids get theirs? Communism! Unfair! It didn’t kill me to work my rear off at the warehouse at night and and as a waiter after classes. Sad!

Just kidding. Was just repeating what some weirdos say about free college.

 

[Rocco Paris]

is that a yellow iPad?

 

[contacos]

Oxford is comparable for some areas but not for others. Like for computer science or physics, it's no contest. UCB, MIT, Stanford, and CMU together dominate most of those and other STEM fields. I'd go to Oxford for political science, I guess.

See, this must be a cultural thing already. No one gives two Fs where you studied here, at least not during the few interviews I had in my life. In fact, no one ever really asked me much about my studies in the first place. It was all about working experiences or internships. I noticed when I took a free semester in Spain (actually got 1k each month for it) that a lot of Americans walked around in their University hoodies, I always found that weird. They would have to pay us to walk around in that here 😅 I basically just picked whatever university wasn’t too close and not too far from home. Most people just pick the university that happened to be in the city they would like to move to after school.

 

[smulji]

My daughter attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and her tuition was C$46,000 a year — US$38,000. I paid cash. What a bargain.

I’m assuming your daughter was attending as an international student. I can guarantee Canadian citizens wouldn’t be paying that much in tuition. Not even close. I live in Vancouver.

 

[ellsworth]

Do you think the ipads will be obsolete before the students even graduate?

 

[mungo2k]

"Freshmen" seems like an outdated, non-inclusive term. We never used that term in the UK, we used "freshers" instead. But "New students" or "first year students" would be perfectly descriptive and inclusive.

 

[Admiral]

I’m assuming your daughter was attending as an international student. I can guarantee Canadian citizens wouldn’t be paying that much in tuition. Not even close. I live in Vancouver.

Yes, an international student. Don't get me started on the cost of rent and food in Vancouver. Yikes! I'm sure UBC is somewhat affordable if your Mom and Dad live in the Lower Mainland and you own a car. But you'd still have to eat on or near campus and the parking ain't pattycake either.

Vancouver seems like a great place to live if your parents are paying for it or you are already independently wealthy.

 

[iPadified]

Is a mandatory iPad a good idea? Even if I love my iPad, I am a strong believer that people should be able to chose the platform and not be dictated from above. So no.

As a reference: In Denmark a university place cost 5000-6000 USD per semester for the tax payers so consider that the lowest marks for education costs alone. On top of that we finance the universities with funding for research which is necessary for high quality education. The high tuition fees are likely for profit or rerouted into research. I hope for the latter.

As in Sweden it is free to use at least to get one degree (no degree shopping in Denmark!). The nordic countries believed that we should use all the intellectual capital in the respective country irrespective of the parents social status and wealth. We do not always succeed but you cannot blame the cost for the individual student.

 

[Christian 5G]

Where was Apple when I was a freshman in college 😅

 

[Lyrca]

As a former Mathematics student (over 10 years ago) the iPad and a pencil would have been the perfect combo for note taking.

 

[ericwn]

Should have given them something useful like an actual laptop with a keyboard. You can't do anything serious on an iPad Air.

Works for some doesn’t work for others. The ability to do something serious comes down to the user’s capability in many cases.

 

[ericwn]

its called tax break for $pple

It’s called sales at Apple.

 

[ericwn]

In Sweden it's free and you get money to study. And as a student you're also eligible for a loan with 0.05 % interest to cover living expenses.

Always exciting to see how first world countries operate!

 

[2ilent8cho]

These kind of rollouts can be very successful and good to see more places doing it. I manage a 1:1 student deployment of iPads to 1000 pupils in a high school, they are used in class and they take them home too. We have moved to Digital Text books, we have Sora reading/library app that's like giving the kids a Kindle style experience. We use Microsoft Teams and Classbook OneNote heavily, and our Teachers actively want to be digital as they love how little they have to carry about.

Became very handy during lockdown as were able to instantly move to remote learning as our pupils already had the equipment required and both staff and pupil knew how to use the tools to work that way.

I find it amusing a few commenting about how an iPad is not useful and need a keyboard/laptop. You don't , you are old, and are forgetting kids now have been bought up in a touch first, virtual keyboard world and are happy typing on them. Also need to remember an iPad can be just as much a resource tool as a creative tool, so our kids do sometimes use the iPad as the text book and actually write on paper with a pen, though this is less often now.

You do have to have a plan though and have everyone onboard with using them or it will be a flop if you just go here is an iPad without any vision for what it is going to be used to achieve.

 

[StuBeck]

That's for "cheaper" universities. Tuition for Ivy League schools can be double that.

Way more than double that. My wife went to a "cheap" Ivy league school in Cornell and it was $33k a year in tuition.