I'm an instructor at a college and I've been using a MBA since 2011 - its a great general purpose computer. That said I recommend that you first check out what's being used at the college you'll be attending since some colleges are geared more strongly toward one platform on another. Also some majors require a more powerful machine. I recommend against the 128GB SSD model though. It sounds like a lot but the space disappears quickly as photos and music are added.