First-Year Community College Students In LA Will Get Free Laptops
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — First-time community college students will not only get free tuition, but also free laptops under a new program under the LA College Promise.
The "Connect to Success" program will distribute free, refurbished laptops to ever first-year students under the LA College Promise. The program's goal is to help fully prepare and empower young people city officials hope will ultimately contribute to the local community and economy.
"Our job is to knock down any hurdles standing between our students and their dreams – and that means sparing them the expense of a tuition bill, connecting them to the classroom on public transit, and giving them a reliable computer to do homework, make their grades and prepare for the future," Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a statement.
Last month, the city made it free for all LAUSD students to ride the DASH bus to school and the state expanded free community college tuition from one to two years for all first-time California students.
The laptops are provided by human-I-T, a nonprofit that focuses on bridging the digital divide, with help from philanthropic donors like the Annenberg Foundation.
About 6,000 students in the Los Angeles Community College District will have access to the free laptops.