In his column that appears in today’s editions of the Sun, My colleague Mike Himowitz offers advice to parents of recent high school grads regarding the potentially unpleasant prospect of having to buy said grad a new computer to accompany them to college in the fall.

As usual, the column is chock full of useful tidbits, including his recommendation that parents seriously consider choosing a laptop over a desktop. However, but for one fleeting mention, the option of choosing a Mac over a Windows-based PC is not addressed.

A few years ago such an omission could be justified; Macs were in retreat at many colleges in universities. I remember reading stories about some institutions sending notices to incoming students that only Windows PCs would be supported. On many campuses, Macs weren’t welcome.

But things have changed in the past two years. The prevalence of iPod ownership among young people has not only put the Apple brand on their radar screen, but has burned it in their brains as “hip.” Apple’s switch to Intel-based processors in 2006 calendar year and the Boot Camp software that Apple has made a free download means that all Macs can also run Windows, should the need arise.

The stories I’ve been reading over the past two years reflect a change in attitudes toward Macs on campus. Back in March, Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., announced that it would replace its 1,700 Windows PCs with 1,450 Macs over a three-years period. While Scott Byers, Wilkes’ vice president for finance and support operations, said there was no “Mac mandate,” most chose the Mac anyway: “This generation seems to prefer Macs.”

At Princeton University, Macs have become increasing popular, at least among on-campus sales. According to statistics reported in the Daily Princetonian, Macs constituted only 15 percent of sales in 2003, 25 percent in 2004, 38 percent in 2005 and a whopping 45 percent in 2006.

Last October, an outfit called the Campus Computing Project released the results of a poll it conducted of 1,200 full-time four-year undergrads at 100 campuses. Among those students who planned to purchase a new computer within the next year, Dell was the preferred choice of 41 percent of the respondents, but Apple was a solid No. 2 with 19 percent. Most of the students in the poll – 68 percent -- agreed with Himowitz in preferring a notebook for their next purchase. Of that group, 21 percent said they’d get a Mac. The Apple numbers may not appear overwhelming, but they’re four times the company’s current U.S. market share of 5 percent.

There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence as well, which you can read for yourself here.

Of course, whether to go Mac or stick with a Windows PC is still a matter of personal preference tempered by just how Mac-friendly your campus is. But you do have choice.