Texas university to give students free iPhone or iPod Touch

The iPhone and iPod Touch are the most wanted devices among young people, but their price isn't exactly affordable. The iPhone starts at $399 (8GB) and $499 (16GB), while the iPod Touch sells for $299 (8GB), $399 (16GB), and $499 (32GB).

Lucky for freshmen attending Abilene Christian University this fall, a free iPhone or iPod Touch will be given to them as part of their learning experience.

The university has developed 15 web applications for these two media devices to help students receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances among other things.

Abilene Christian is the first university to provide students with free iPhones and iPod Touches, but more may soon follow. ACU's Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts met with Apple executives and representatives of Harvard, Yale, MIT, Duke, Stanford, Oxford, Princeton, and UCLA to discuss ACU's creative vision and use of these media devices on campus.

I personally love the idea, and think more schools should launch similar programs. Many schools and universities around the country have already handed out free iPods and MacBooks to students, but the iPhone is a lot more practical -- especially if the school has wireless access. Students can certainly get a nice education discount on Apple products, but to get your school free iPods sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Apple Gives Fire Victims a Free iPod (Yahoo! Tech)
ACU to give iPhone or iPod Touch to all incoming freshmen (ACU)