In 1983, Drexel University launched a first-of-its-kind partnership with Apple, requiring all students to have access to a personal computer, writes Alissa Falcone for Drexel News.

In doing so, Drexel became the first university in the United States to have such a mandate, thus setting the stage for what would become the future of technology and higher education.

“The freshmen now entering Drexel [in the early 1980s] will spend the greater portion of their professional lives in the 21st century, in an environment in which the computer will be an everyday, even commonplace tool,” said then-president William Hagerty, at the time. 

From that point on, Drexel earned a national reputation as a bold and technologically advanced institution. 

Students and most faculty members received a discounted, brand-new Apple Macintosh personal computer before it was available to the general public. 

Computer use at Drexel’s campus was far from a new thing at the time, however.

In 1958, Drexel opened the first computing center in Delaware Valley, and was one of just 75 educational institutions in the nation to have one. 

Computer use simply evolved over the ensuing years, from teaching computing proficiency throughout the 1980s to offering online courses by the mid-1990s.

Read more about Drexel’s illustrious history with computer technology at Drexel News. 

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Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on PHILADELPHIA Today in March 2024.