Bowdoin College to Provide Every Student With a Complimentary MacBook Pro, iPad Mini, and Apple Pencil

[MacRumors]

Bowdoin College today announced that it will be providing every student with a 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip, an iPad mini, and an Apple Pencil, complete with access to a full range of course-specific software, beginning in fall 2022.

The cost of the program will be covered entirely by Bowdoin, a liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. Students will have the option to pay $1 to keep their equipment when they graduate, according to the announcement.

Bowdoin already provided students with a cellular iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil, and a Magic Keyboard in the summer of 2020, a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning students will use the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil they already received, in addition to a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with course-specific software as part of the expanded program.

"During the pandemic we witnessed firsthand the power of a common technology platform for teaching and learning," said Bowdoin College president Clayton Rose.

"At Apple we believe education can be a profound force for equity, and that the right technology can enhance and extend teaching and learning," said Apple's vice president of education and enterprise product marketing Susan Prescott.

Most students will receive their new equipment at orientation, or upon arrival to campus in fall 2022. More details are available on Bowdoin's website.

Article Link: Bowdoin College to Provide Every Student With a Complimentary MacBook Pro, iPad Mini, and Apple Pencil

 

[k1121j]

Well isn’t that nice of them to add that to the student's shopping cart. See you at checkout!

 

[A_Hunger_Artist]

Don't want to be pedantic but Bowdoin costs $56,000 a year for tuition. Not sure there's anything "complimentary" going on here.

 

[StuBeck]

To clarify, expected expenses for this year are $76,000 (https://www.bowdoin.edu/admissions/costs-and-aid/index.html). So its not complementary.

 

[ZacKaffeine]

While I think it’s great, 95% of the people who go there could easily afford it (well, their parents could). I’m from the area and all you see is 18-year-olds in expensive ass cars

EDIT: This was an exaggeration. I should have simply said that I've seen a lot of very nice cars being driven by the students.

 

[deathcab]

The cost of the program will be covered entirely by Bowdoin, a liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. Students will have the option to pay $1 to keep their equipment when they graduate, according to the announcement.

How can they afford to do this? 4 years of tuition Bowdoin’s current rates is only $231,104 (not counting mandatory fees, mandatory health insurance unless waived, room and board, textbooks, mandatory meal plan for on-campus living, etc.).

Seems like a very, very generous for-profit liberal arts University!

 

[contacos]

How nice of them ... oh wait, I just saw the annual tuition fee which probably does not even include books

 

[4jasontv]

Hmmm. My high school gave me a powerbook 520 to keep. I recall the laptop struggling by senior year.

 

[antnythr]

In other unrelated news, tuition has increased by $5,000 per term…

 

[dmylrea]

I'm sure tuition went up this year to cover the cost of these "complementary" devices. Do they think the students are that stupid? If college teaches them nothing else, "nothing is free..."

 

[BornAgainMac]

Heck, they can provide BMW, Mac Pro, iPad Pro, Playstation 5, and a daily massage and just adjust the tuition to cover it.

 

[pshufd]

Bowdoin is a place where you send your kids if you want to make sure that they don't get into trouble as it's remote, isolated and frigid in the winter. At the least - I hope that this encourages software developers to port their applications to Apple Silicon.

 

[bobenhaus]

Kids will take and wont be satisficed .

 

[lucasajackson]

Oh... It's not complimentary. That price will be builtin to tuition somewhere.

 

[sw1tcher]

Don't want to be pedantic but Bowdoin costs $56,000 a year for tuition.

To clarify, expected expenses for this year are $76,000

How can they afford to do this? 4 years of tuition Bowdoin’s current rates is only $231,104

I'm sure tuition went up this year to cover the cost of these "complementary" devices. Do they think the students are that stupid?

Students paying $56K/yr or more in tuition. Hmmm... I don't believe it's possible to answer your question other than with a "yes" ?

 

[pshufd]

Oh... It's not complimentary. That price will be builtin to tuition somewhere.

The benefit is if they got bulk discounts larger than the Apple educational discount and if this means that their IT department standardizes on Apple products so that they don't have the costs in supporting multiple vendors and architectures.

 

[mas90guru]

All are part of the perks that colleges are offering to attract students. This might be cheaper long term than adding a new fancy building.

I doubt they did away with overpriced textbooks in favor of all digital.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Cool where do I sign up

 

[antiprotest]

I hear that the restaurant down the street has a $46 lobster roll, but they offer complimentary fries with it. Best deal ever.

 

[Ted13]

While I think it’s great, 95% of the people who go there could easily afford it (well, their parents could). I’m from the area and all you see is 18-year-olds in expensive ass cars

95% of students don't get financial aid?!? (I have no idea, but when I went to NYU in 1980s a majority of students were getting financial aid, I know I was).

 

[Complex757]

Never heard of it.

Nice marketing tool.

If you stay there four years you would have paid them over $250,000 and they were nice enough to give you $2,000. They'll probably raise tuition next year

 

[pshufd]

95% of students don't get financial aid?!? (I have no idea, but when I went to NYU in 1980s a majority of students were getting financial aid, I know I was).

My son went to college in 2008 and I filled out the financial aid form against my better judgement (several people I knew recommended doing so). They sent me a gift-wrapped package with loan documents. Financial Aid these days is mostly loans at public schools unless they want you specifically for a particular reason. Private schools have higher sticker prices so they have a lot more room to work with but it's all based on algorithms these days. They want to maximize revenue from particular students and know the tipping point on which school you'll choose.

 

[code-m]

Well isn’t that nice of them to add that to the student's shopping cart. See you at checkout!

Forced jelly scroll for all. ?

 

[johncarync]

I was surprised that they chose a 13" MacBook Pro instead of MacBook Air. They are practically the same machine. Do the students really need 8-core graphics instead of 7? Or maybe it's the Touch Bar (and I would prefer physical function keys on the Air)? Or maybe because it has a fan (that almost never comes on)?

My guess is that Apple gave them a good deal on the MacBook Pro and/or the college preferred the word "Pro" in what they were giving to students.

 

[code-m]

And people wonder why kids are struggling with student loan debt? The over availability of highly-subsidized student loans has caused these colleges and universities to simply keep raising tuition and fees. Some of these kids will come out of school with north of $200K of student loan debt, which most will not be in a position to repay for a very long time. This is a national tragedy.

Only in some countries.