What do college students actually spend on course materials?

Recently, this analysis from Phil Hill (of Phil on Ed Tech), an influential educational technology market analysis, highlighted the actual cost of course materials for undergraduate students in the United States:

“Last month the College Board released their “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2020” report. There is a wealth of information in that report on many subjects, and on page 11 the new method of sharing budget information has a major improvement.

 

 

There is a new box in the top right now breaking out “spending on course materials” at $410 per year for both public two-year schools and four-year schools, and separate “other supplies”. Also seen at the bottom is that the College Board now points out that NACS Student Watch and the Student Monitor reports are the most reliable sources for spending estimates on course materials.

It’s also worth looking at that number: $410 per year. That is far below the ~$600 per year described in 2015, and this gets to the second significant update. Both NACS and Student Monitor have reported a consistent downward trend on how much college students in the US spend on course materials.”

Read more at PhilOnEdTech