Campus Resources

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Learn more about on-campus services, including career services, student accounts and student employment.

Computers and Information Technology

For information about Information Technology Services (ITS), please visit the ITS Student Resources website.

In general, Swarthmore College recommends that students bring a computer to campus. For many tasks, a tablet is unlikely to provide adequate resources for the requirements of all of your classes. For specific departments and classes, you may need to take advantage of departmental computer resources or the campus public computer areas or specialized computer labs. For general tasks, however, we currently recommend that new students 
bring a laptop computer that matches or exceeds the following recommended specifications:

  • Quad-core Intel i7, or Apple M1 processor
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 256 GB Solid State (SSD) Hard Drive
  • Webcam (unless built-in to laptop) & Headphone/Earbuds with built-in mic
  • Extended warranty (including accidental damage and spill coverage)

New students should have access to a laptop computer that at a minimum, meets or exceeds the following specifications:

  • Quad-core Intel Core i5 or Apple M1 processor or better
  • 8 GB of RAM
  • 128 GB Solid State (SSD) Hard Drive
  • Webcam (unless built-in to laptop) & Headphone/Earbuds with built-in mic

For your operating system, we recommend Apple MacOS 10.15 or later, or Windows 10 (build 1909 or later).

If you have questions about computers, please visit the related ITS website or contact our Information Technology Services department by email (support@swarthmore.edu) or phone (610-328-8513).

In the mid-May new student forms, we will ask several questions to help us better understand your current computer access and whether you may need assistance in acquiring a computer for the school year.