Total School Supply Spending Could Surpass $100B In 2020

Parents are preparing to shell out a record amount of money this year on back-to-school supplies, with computers topping the list amid signs that neither the pandemic nor online classes will be vanishing anytime soon, a new survey finds.

Spending on school and college supplies could easily top $100 billion this year, according to a survey released Wednesday (July 15) by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics.

That would mark the first time back-to-school spending has crossed the $100 billion mark, representing a nearly 25 percent increase over last year, when parents forked over $80.7 billion for everything from pens and paper to lunchboxes.

Spending on supplies for K-12 students could hit nearly $34 billion, breaking the record set in 2012 and surging past last year’s mark of $26.2 billion. But college spending may be poised for an even bigger increase, with $67.7 billion in anticipated spending, up from $54.5 billion last year, according to the NRF commissioned survey.

“By any measure, this is an unprecedented year with great uncertainty, including how students will get their education this fall whether they are in kindergarten or college,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a press release. “Most parents don’t know whether their children will be sitting in a classroom or in front of a computer in the dining room, or a combination of the two. But they do know the value of an education, and are navigating uncertainty and unknowns so that students are prepared.”

Still, given the uncertainty over what school and college life will look like this fall, many parents, while anticipating spending more, are holding back for the moment, with roughly 17 percent saying they had completed their shopping by early July.

Even so, significantly more K-12 parents are expecting to buy computers and other electronics this year than in the past – 63 percent compared to 54 percent in 2019, the NRF survey finds. Families also expect to spend more: $274.4 on average, compared to $203.44 last year.