Actually I was just looking at the manual late last night (after having had posted here) and it said that it is “configurable” to 16 gb.
So I don’t know but thank you!
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By “configurable” they mean you can buy it with 16Gb, but once you’ve made that choice at purchase, there’s no way to change it later.
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Yeah. You’ll see places selling used Macbooks that just copy Apple’s text and it makes it sound like it’s upgradeable. And especially for laptops, that’s been getting less and less true over time.
It seems to me that shouldn’t be in a manual for a product that’s already been purchased either, as that product is no longer configurable. 
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Thanks. I called Apple about something else and you are right.
It is ok. I don’t really need a lot of RAM but I would have liked to have that option in the future, in case I needed it.
Right now, the machine flies!
I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but son should talk with his department. Ideally, he should talk to students already in the program to see what they’re using.
I say this as someone that has worked in student-facing positions in Higher Education IT. I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to tell students their new computer that the internet or salespeople said to get won’t run the software the department uses. I’ve also been in situations where students have wanted to get a different computer, but the internet/salespeople told them to buy the one they bought.
TL:DR; Wait.
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Thank you to everyone for all your wonderful and sage advice on this. I really appreciate the thought and perspective provided in all the responses. The clear take away from all the comments/conversation validates my initial gut thought when I first posted here - go with the MacBook Air (I’ll likely go for the 16GB RAM and opt for a 1TB hard disc). It’s light-weight and has the processing juice to handle most of what he would need to do in school. His school has its own ‘editing lab’ with enough ‘seats’ for everyone in the program, so between that and any ‘ad hoc’ editing work he needs to do on the laptop, I think he is more than covered!
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That’s a nice machine. It will serve him well.
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Ha! Thankfully my son placed out of all Science (and language and math) so he does not have such problems. The MacBook Air I got him is awesome, thanks to everyone here!!
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