Whoa. Comcast just did something HUGE for college students in Colorado.

Just getting started. #InternetEssentials big news coming soon. @Comcast closing the #digitaldivide. #Colorado pic.twitter.com/6MVSc9wrHF

— Comcast Colorado (@ComcastColoPR) September 16, 2015

If you’ve been reading us, then by now you know all about Internet Essentials—which is basically Comcast’s initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide.  We are huge proponents of both closing the digital divide and this initiative, so for obvious reasons, we’re very excited.

Today, Comcast’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer David L. Cohen joined many of Colorado’s community leaders at the Community College of Denver to announce a new pilot program that will extend Internet Essentials to low-income community college students across Colorado.

It’s clear that in 2015, everyone needs to have Internet.  It’s just part of the world we live in today. Internet should be a basic human right.

But it’s not.

For college students especially, this can be quite a serious problem.  Here’s why:

• Community colleges enroll as many as 40 percent of all college students each year.
• As low-cost, open-access institutions, community colleges serve a high percentage of non-traditional students, including those who are low income, are financially independent, have dependents, are first generation, and are older.
• 40 percent of community college students receive Federal Pell Grants.
• 94 percent of college students report needing to be connected to the Internet at least twice a week.

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Think about your mom or grandma. She might be part of the “Greatest Generation,” or a Baby Boomer, so she sure as hell has seen a lot in her life. She’s seen multiple wars, the Civil Rights Movement and the birth of rock music. And now, she’s getting Internet access and she’ll be able to join in on all the Facebooking, Googling and Netflixing that’s second nature to Millennials.

From the looks of it, Comcast is on a mission to:

Make sure any low income senior citizen in San Francisco who wants access to the Internet can have it at the extremely affordable $9.95 per month, plus tax

Teach said senior citizens how to use the Internet so they’re not intimidated once they gain access to it

Comcast made the big announcement about their new Internet Essentials pilot program last week at the Lady Shaw Senior Center in San Francisco. Around 60 seniors were there for the occasion and I can tell you first hand that they were thrilled with the news.

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I, for one, could not be more excited to see the end of winter. I love skiing and building a snowman as much as the next guy – but we need some sunshine out here, amirite? I know I’m not the only one who’s thinking it. In fact – I can prove it. We know kids love winter. We know they love building snow forts and splashing around in the fresh powder making snow angels – but only to an extent.

Photo.

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