{"id":45783,"date":"2026-08-15T03:22:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45783"},"modified":"2026-08-15T03:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:22:31","slug":"average-supplies-cost-for-college-students-trending-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45783","title":{"rendered":"Average supplies cost for college students trending up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"content-figure flex justify-center mb-[1em] mx-auto\">\n<div style=\"max-width:900px\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hermes.media.static.aol.com\/media\/2026\/08\/14\/38e70c30-98c7-315b-8cf4-881f79445278\/aa6efa5e-445e-469f-ba72-da0bebefacba.jpg\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/hermes.media.static.aol.com\/media\/2026\/08\/14\/38e70c30-98c7-315b-8cf4-881f79445278\/aa6efa5e-445e-469f-ba72-da0bebefacba.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>SPRINGFIELD, Mo. \u2014 The National Retail Federation is reporting an increase in the average spending for college students in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The report says college students are spending an average of $1437.79, the highest average since 2023.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s when the spending average was $1,366.95.<\/p>\n<p>The average has remained over $1,000 every year since 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ozarks First is speaking to students and parents at Missouri State University&#8217;s move-in day. We asked if they are feeling that financial pinch and what they&#8217;re doing to avoid it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d definitely say my computer and more of school supplies for my major [are more expensive now]. It was definitely more expensive, like an extra few dollars to maybe $100 extra, and I&#8217;m like, where did that come from? I don&#8217;t appreciate that,&#8221; sophomore Janyah Gregory said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ozarksfirst.com\/news\/wallethub-ranks-missouri-college-first\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\tMissouri school once again named best community college in U.S.\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gregory says living on her own versus having a roommate was an increase she planned for.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s fun here, and I do feel like my money is worth it,&#8221; Gregory said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Incoming freshmen like Grant Orris say they&#8217;re noticing higher prices on average, but say many stores are offering student discounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have noticed the cost of basic school supplies like pencils, pens, papers, notebooks, steadily increased over my high school years and especially this year. The bigger supplies, like a laptop, I didn&#8217;t think were too bad,&#8221; Orris said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is a little bit daunting to have to tackle all those funds, but I believe I should be able to get them taken care of,&#8221; Adeline Riegler said. &#8220;I feel like this is silly, but shoes and back-to-school shopping, I felt [that increase] a lot, and with backpacks. You definitely seen that rise compared to what they looked like before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I got a decent amount of scholarships that can help cover some of that cost. I am going to be a teacher, so having to get all the things possible to be able to cover that is necessary,&#8221; Gracen Ruble said. &#8220;Student discounts helped a lot, but it is a lot like the dorm supplies and all the things that you have to do to fill your dorm and just things that you have to survive with. It was a lot of money.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Parents like Christy Straight are dropping off their kid at MSU, but Straight did something different when it came to back-to-school shopping.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She did her shopping throughout her daughter&#8217;s senior year of high school, and utilized online shopping sites rather than retail box stores.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ozarksfirst.com\/news\/springfield-public-schools-enters-second-year-of-phone-ban-as-missouri-mandate-takes-effect-statewide\/?ipid=promo-link-block2\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\tSpringfield Public Schools enters second year of phone ban as Missouri mandate takes effect statewide\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nothing that was out of the ordinary. We had already gotten her laptop the year before, because her Chromebook died. The most expensive thing was possibly mattress topper,&#8221; Straight said. &#8220;[Right now] we&#8217;re getting moving bags and little odds and ends. Cups, plates, shower stuff, bathroom stuff.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Straight says she has another child in high school and has seen supplies cost more, but she&#8217;s buying fewer items.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I mean, things are getting more expensive, but they&#8217;re getting less as they get into high school. They don&#8217;t need as much. They don&#8217;t need the crayons. They don&#8217;t need every single-colored folder that&#8217;s out there. I have a senior this year again, so we&#8217;ll be doing it again. Right now, we&#8217;ve only done her backpack, so, I mean, there&#8217;s not a whole lot,&#8221; Straight said.<\/p>\n<p>One purchase that stuck out to Straight was similar to a purchase Reigler mentioned: shoes.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That was probably the most expensive thing that we got for her was her a good pair of walking shoes to walk around campus,&#8221; Straight said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ozarksfirst.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOLR &#8211; OzarksFirst.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SPRINGFIELD, Mo. \u2014 The National Retail Federation is reporting an increase in the average spending for college students in 2026.\u00a0 The report says college students are spending an average of $1437.79, the highest average since 2023. That&#8217;s when the spending average was $1,366.95. The average has remained over $1,000 every year since 2019.\u00a0 Ozarks First&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45784,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/hermes.media.static.aol.com\/media\/2026\/08\/14\/38e70c30-98c7-315b-8cf4-881f79445278\/4550c5be-c095-4b47-b15f-e871982e4112.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}