The personal computer invades higher education

Personal computers are becoming as necessary for many students in the United States as calculators and textbooks. Last September the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., started a program in which about 100 freshmen - all those enrolled in science studies and system planning and management - were required to buy minicomputers. Stevens became the first college in the country to mandate the use of personal computers. Since then colleges and universities have announced plans for even larger programs.