Students may not need to spend 300 big ones to buy an iPod this fall. Some universities are offering them for free.

Colleges nationwide, including the University of Wisconsin, are considering giving students Apple’s mp3 player for absolutely nothing.

Duke University already cut a deal with Apple and distributed more than 1,500 iPods with 20-gigabyte memory capacities to incoming freshmen enrolled in foreign language programs, according to the North Carolina newspaper, the News Observer.

Twenty GB is enough space to hold approximately 5,000 songs, but some universities hope music will not be the only things students store on their complimentary “educational iPods.”

“The educational options are unlimited,” said Rob Howell, chair of the German department at UW. Howell believes iPods could be excellent additions to the arsenal of technology students have today.

iPods, in essence, are computer hard drives — a device used to store any kind of data. This means, in addition to storing favorite tunes by Lenny Kravitz or Madonna, students can store recorded lectures, famous recorded speeches, foreign language conversations, schedules, calendars or anything else professors deem necessary for higher education.

“[Owning] iPods are essential as a computer,” Howell said.

Many students on campus share Howell’s opinion, but some might be considering the economics and logistics from a different angle.

Tom Bruflat, a UW sophomore and Spanish major, said he likes the idea of getting a free iPod, noting the important benefits for foreign language students.

“As foreign language students, we don’t get enough practice actually hearing and speaking the language,” Bruflat said. “It’s all reading and writing.”

The high-tech gadgets do not come without a price, however.

Duke University spent $500,000 dollars on “Project: iPod,” which includes the purchase of the Apple product, the addition of a new technology specialist, grants to faculty members to incorporate the iPods, and money for data collection to measure the program’s effectiveness accurately, according to the News Observer. The 20-GB version used by Duke’s program is the smaller of the two new iPods available, and at $299 it is $100 less than its 40-GB big brother.

Some critics of Duke’s program argue students can erase all of the educational software on their iPods and fill them up with music. In light of the recent university budget cuts, others question the need for the expensive gadgets for students.

“You have to consider whether kids would actually use them for educational purposes,” Bruflat said. “You’d have to make them mandatory and check to make sure students are using them for school stuff.”

With the ability to store anything a computer can store, the benefits might also extend beyond foreign language.

“[Students might] store pictures, artwork, homework, online stuff, projects or any sort of multimedia,” UW sophomore Andy Bruss said.

Still, most students wouldn’t mind scoring a free $300 iPod.

“Why should the foreign language students have all the fun?” Bruss said. “Plus, I need something to store all my Madonna and Lenny Kravitz albums on. I want a free iPod, too!”