Incoming freshmen at Abilene Christian University next year will be greeted by more than new roommates, cafeteria food, and all nighters. Members of the class of 2012 will be equipped with an iPhone or iPod Touch, the school announced Monday.

The giveaway is a means for students to receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors' offices, and check their meal and account balances, according to ACU Chief Information Officer Kevin Roberts.

You need a $400 phone to check you meal balance?

ACU didn't provide details on what size iPhone/iPod Touch students would be receiving, but I'm guessing the school is not going to pay for more than the 8GB, $399 iPhone and the 8GB, $299 iPod Touch.

ACU had 4,019 enrolled undergraduates in fall 2007, so it will presumably be purchasing about 1,000 of the Apple devices for its lucky freshmen. Are they going to engrave peoples' names on them to avoid mix ups? And how many of these devices are going to end up smashed on the quad after a few wild nights? Luckily ACU is not listed among the top party schools.

ACU has actually been studying mobile convergence on campus since the spring of 2007, and even produced a movie about its efforts. The school also has an indirect presence on iTunes, where students that visit www.acu.edu/itunes can download ACU lectures and interviews, school-related podcasts, and academic information to their iPods.