Law School Laptop Program
Note: If you are entering the Law School as a first-year student on a full-time basis, DO NOT purchase a laptop of your own in advance, as it is mandatory that you purchase the laptop that has been pre-configured for our law students and our curriculum.
Since 2004, the University of Minnesota Law School has included a laptop program to provide first-year students with a brand-new computer at the start of their legal education.
The program provides entering law students with a fully configured laptop that includes all the current hardware and software needed for the Law School curriculum. This program ensures that all student laptops will have the computing power and the proper software versions needed to handle the courses and multimedia presentations undertaken in the courses and clinics. The laptop is pre-configured with the hard drive storage, processing power, memory, wireless capabilities and software programs needed for the many courses, activities, presentations and research tools at the Law School.
Unlike many other collegiate laptop programs, our program also includes a computer support team reserved solely for the Law School. The Law School Laptop Center staff maintains generous, regular hours Monday-Friday and is available to Law School students only.
Since the student laptop program is part of our curriculum, it is mandatory for all full-time law students. If you already have a laptop, you will still need to purchase the Law School's designated laptop prior to beginning your first year at the Law School.
Laptop costs:
The laptop cost is incorporated into the first-year tuition as part of the technology fee, and will be spread over two semesters.
The Law School actively negotiates with computer manufacturers to garner the best prices on the laptop technology needed for the Law School curriculum. Prices vary each year depending on the price of equipment, but the current laptop cost is estimated to be approximately $1,300 (i.e., $650 each semester, for the first two semesters.)
