Law School Laptop Program

Note: If you are entering the Law School as a first-year student, 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. To see the technical specifications of the program's equipment, click here.

Unlike many other collegiate laptop programs, our program also includes a computer support team reserved solely for the Law School students. The Law Student Computing Services office is conveniently located right in the Law School building, and its staff members maintain generous, regular hours Monday-Friday.

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 each year. Through the power of volume purchasing, the Law School can acquire top-grade laptops for far less than students would pay to purchase the same equipment themselves.