Cal State Los Angeles To Gift iPads And More To New Students

LOS ANGELES, CA — This fall, incoming transfer and freshman students at California State University, Los Angeles will receive a free iPad Air, Apple Pencil and an Apple Smart Keyboard Folio.

The slew of new gifted technology was made possible by a new CSU initiative to bolster student success and eliminate "equity gaps" among diverse student populations, university officials said Wednesday.

The effort is also meant to help give students a boost amid the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Seven other CSU campuses are participating in the program: Cal State Northridge, Cal State Bakersfield, Channel Islands, Fresno, Humboldt, Maritime Academy and San Marcos.

Nearly half of CSU undergraduates receive Pell Grants amid financial hardship, and nearly one-third are first-generation college students, CSU officials said.

"In addition to truly addressing equity and access, we see iPad Air as a powerful tool to prepare our students for their future careers," CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro said in a statement.

The new program, CSUCCESS, will give an estimated 35,000 students access to the Apple products as long as they are a student at one of the eight campuses participating in the first phase of the effort.

Students at the largest university system in the nation spent the better part of 2020 and a good chunk of this year in a virtual classroom. And while many campuses will resume in-person instruction, more courses will be offered virtually than before the pandemic, due to the ongoing pandemic.

“I am convinced that true and consistent student success depends on having a modern, and more importantly, reliable, computing device in our students' possession beginning on day one and continuing throughout their college experience," Castro said.