The National Retail Federation says:
Back-to-college spending, which has helped buoy retail sales for the past five years, will drop seven percent this year, from an average of $641.56 per person
last year to $599.38 this year. With total back-to-college spending expected to reach $31.26 billion, 2008 back-to-college and back-to-school spending combined will total $51.4 billion.
"College students are learning a hard lesson that when economic times are tough, fun purchases take a back seat," said NRF President and CEO Tracy Mullin. "While students will still be buying school supplies, they will scale back spending on clothing, electronics and dorm furnishings."
While students will still allocate the largest portion of their budget to electronics, spending will fall to $211.89 per person from $258.43 last year.
The group says spending in these categories will drop:
- Spending on clothing ($134.40 vs. $149.85 last year)
- Spending on dorm furnishings ($90.90 vs. $109.85 last year)
And it says spending on shoes will remain flat ($58.46 vs. $59.90 last year). Bucking the trend:
Only one category -- school supplies -- will experience a notable increase, from $63.52 last year to $68.47 this year. Spending on collegiate gear, a new category, will average $35.26 per person.
