CSN giving laptops to all first-time full-time students
By Julie Wootton-Greener Las Vegas Review-Journal
Daniel Herrera, a freshman at the College of Southern Nevada, checks out his new laptop at CSN’s Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. Herrera and other first-time, full-time students at the community college are eligible for the free laptops, and can keep them if they graduate within two years. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Daniel Herrera, a freshman at the College of Southern Nevada, picks up his new laptop at CSN’s Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. Herrera and other first-time, full-time students at the community college are eligible for the free laptops, and can keep them if they graduate within two years. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Stacy Imiguez, a freshman studying journalism, picks up her new laptop at CSN’s Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. She’s receiving the laptop as part of a new program designed to help students with remote schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
A program to put free laptops in the hands of some College of Southern Nevada students is underway at Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Monseriat Lopez, a freshman at the College of Southern Nevada studying engineering, checks out a laptop at CSN’s Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. She’s participating in a CSN program that provides laptops at no cost to first-time, full-time students while they pursue their studies. The students can keep the laptops if they graduate within two years. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
Angela Campos, a freshman at the College of Southern Nevada studying nursing, walks away with her new laptop at CSN’s Tyrone Thompson Student Union on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in North Las Vegas. CSN is providing first-time, full-time students with free laptops while they pursue their studies. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @ellenschmidttt
The College of Southern Nevada announced Wednesday that it’s distributing laptop computers to first-time full-time students who began their studies in the fall.
The community college, which has about 31,000 students at three Las Vegas Valley campuses, began distribution Wednesday at its North Las Vegas campus and will do so again on Thursday.
Distribution will occur Monday and Tuesday at the Charleston campus and on Feb. 3-4 at the Henderson campus.
CSN is holding about 85 percent of its classes remotely during spring semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only some science labs and career and technical education classes are meeting in person.
“With the majority of our students attending classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe it’s critical to ensure that they have access to the tools they need to succeed,” CSN President Federico Zaragoza said in a news release.
The college bought 2,550 Windows 10 laptops using federal CARES Act coronavirus relief money, college spokesman Richard Lake said. Each laptop cost $299.
Students who qualify — those who enrolled for the first time in college during the fall 2020 semester and attend full time — have been notified by CSN.
Laptops will be checked out to students at no cost while they pursue their studies, but they can keep them if they graduate from a CSN degree program within two years.
CSN originally planned to distribute laptops earlier but didn’t receive them until late into fall semester because of pandemic-related delivery delays.
CSN is the only school within the eight-institution Nevada System of Higher Education to distribute laptops to first-time, full-time students at no cost, according to the news release.
