The College of Charleston today launched the nation’s first interactive, self-guided university tour application for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. Watch an ad for the tour.

The application, titled “College of Charleston Tour,” is a free download for the iPhone and iPod Touch and is available at the Apple iTunes app store. Don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Watch the campus videos. The tour features Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) assistance, 18 videos of campus, and nearly 60 images of life at the College of Charleston.

Four College of Charleston students narrate and provide a unique perspective not currently offered by any other university application. Viewers will get an insider’s look at the College and see inside nearly every building, including the President’s House.

The application was developed in partnership with City Slicker, an interactive development company based in Charleston, S.C.

“We are excited to be the first university to offer a campus tour through an iPhone and iPod application and to do so in collaboration with an entrepreneurial Charleston-based company,” says College of Charleston President George Benson. “This innovative application will allow us to connect with prospective students around the globe and to showcase our historic campus using the latest in digital media and mobile technology.”

The “College of Charleston Tour” app connects with prospective college students’ preferred methods of looking at and applying to colleges and universities. The Internet has given all students – regardless of where they are located – unprecedented access to college campuses. The new iPhone app takes that access one step further: students no longer have to be in front of a computer to tour a college campus.

“Students are already coming to the College of Charleston from as far away as Singapore,” says Jimmie Foster Jr., the College’s director of freshman admissions. “Now, with the iPhone app, they won’t have to get on a plane to experience the College. Whether they are on campus or not, they’ll be able to take a guided tour – and meet some of our students – any hour, any day. We’ll be able to reach dramatically more students than we do using traditional admissions tactics. And students who see the College of Charleston often make it their top choice.”

City Slicker, the developer of this ground-breaking application, also developed “Charleston City Slicker,” their first self-guided walking tour, which was the first such city tour for the iPhone, and Apple selected it as a “Staff Favorite” and “Pick of the Week.”

“City Slicker is thrilled to partner with the College of Charleston to develop what we believe is an evolutionary change in the college admissions process,” says Tommy Dew, CEO of City Slicker and a 1990 graduate of the College of Charleston. “We give prospective students and their families intuitive, convenient tools to enrich and facilitate the college selection process. As a College alumnus, it is especially gratifying to provide technology that helps to differentiate my alma mater.”

For more information, contact Stan Gray, Director of Strategic Communications at the College of Charleston, at 843.953.5496. For information about development of the application, contact Tommy Dew at 843.813.5665.