University Makes iPods, iPhones Mandatory for Freshmen

Are you a PC? Then you'd better not go to the University of Missouri's journalism school, where 99.5 percent of the students have Macs and incoming freshmen have just been told they'll need an iPhone or iPod Touch as well.

Why? So they can play back lectures in their free time, according to Associate Dean Brian S. Brooks.

"Lectures are the worst possible learning format," he told the Columbia Missourian, the campus newspaper. "There's been some research done that shows if a student can hear that lecture a second time, they retain three times as much of that lecture."

In a conversation with FOXNews.com, Brooks said that any MP3 player could actually be used.

"You could use a Zune, for example," he said.

But he said the Apple devices, which start at $200 apiece, were made official requirements for the benefit of students on financial aid.

"If it's required, it can be included in your financial-need estimate," he told the Missourian. "If we had not required it, they wouldn't be able to do that."

Brooks said the journalism school was stressing Apple devices to standardize software — lectures are downloaded for free from a special section of the iTunes Store — and because so many students either already had or wanted an iPhone or iPod Touch.

"There are about 50 other schools across the country that are doing this," he said.

Students who aren't on financial aid and don't have the right Apple devices may have to shell out.

But, Brooks added, Apple for the past two summers offered a back-to-school package through college bookstores where students who bought an Apple laptop got coupons for a free iPod Touch.

He expects that students will get the same deal this year.

"It's not going to cost them a cent," he said.

Brooks admitted that students could just play back the lectures on their laptops, but he said few students do.

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