Students looking to get a deal on a new laptop or tablet before the start of Fall Semester, look no further.

Ohio State students, faculty and staff can save money on Apple products purchased at the university.

OSU receives a rebate for each Apple product sold at the Wexner Center Store and Wired Out, the campus computer store. In an effort to “keep money spent by OSU here at OSU,” Nathan Andridge, director of purchasing, receiving stores and mail, revised the pricing strategy to give back part of the rebate to  customers.

According to the Wired Out website, students and staff can save up to 12 percent on Apple products by shopping at campus stores.

“When you think about it holistically, if my organization or our stores on campus can make less of a profit, it’s kind of like wealth distribution” Andridge said.

The discounts are part of OSU’s Digital First initiative, which began several months ago as faculty developed new curriculum for the transition to semesters.

Mike Hofherr, senior director of learning technology at OSU, said in an email that Digital First is a cultural shift in how educational materials are prepared and delivered which “will enhance the teaching, learning and research at Ohio State.”

Hofherr said the goal is for faculty to communicate information to students digitally, using paper as a last resort.

“Digital First will position Ohio State as a global leader in the delivery of educational materials,” Hofherr said.

Although Wired Out and the Wexner Center Store are authorized campus stores for Apple products, the partnership with Apple is not like the corporate partnerships the university has with Coca-Cola, Office Max and Huntington Bank.

“This is not an affinity partnership,” Hofherr said. “We are collaborating with Apple to provide the best educational experience we can for the students.”

Andridge said sales have almost tripled since this time last year.

During orientation, parents of incoming students can use the technology sales.

Jim Beckman of Oregon, Ohio, is the father of an incoming student. Beckman bought his son a Dell computer at Wired Out after reading through orientation materials and talking to people at information tables at orientation.

“I think the biggest draw was the pricing, as well as the fact they do warranty service on site,” Beckman said.