American families plan to spend an average of $1,438 per person on back-to-college shopping this year. 

It is the highest figure in eight years.

The visual above shows the expected per-person back-to-school spending across two categories:  K-12 (kindergarten through grade 12) and college, annually from 2019 to 2026. 

It comes from the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics and was released in July 2026. 

The figures represent what American families surveyed by NRF expected to spend per person on clothing, supplies, electronics, and other items for the upcoming school year.

TL;DR

• American families plan to spend an average of $1,438 per person on back-to-college shopping in 2026
• The record reverses two consecutive years of college spending decline and represents a $112 jump from 2025’s $1,326.
• K-12 back-to-school spending sits at $864 per person in 2026, exactly where it stood in 2022 and still $26 below its 2023 peak.

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A reversal nobody expected

College back-to-school spending peaked at $1,367 per person in 2023, then fell to $1,365 in 2024 and dropped further to $1,326 in 2025. 

That was a cumulative decline of $41 over two years. 

Then 2026 produced a $112 single-year jump to $1,438. 

It is the largest year-on-year increase since 2020-2021, when pandemic-era technology purchases drove both education categories sharply upward. 

The reversal is sharp; it follows two years of restraint, and it sets a new record in the same year it breaks the downward trend.

The $1,438 figure covers what families buy to prepare college students for the academic year, including: 

• Clothing

• Electronics

• School supplies

• Furniture

• Bedding

• Personal care items 

It does not include tuition, housing, dining plans, or fees. 

K-12 tells a different story

While college spending breaks records, K-12 back-to-school spending is going nowhere. 

Families plan to spend $864 per person on K-12 preparation in 2026, the same figure recorded in 2022. 

K-12 spending peaked at $890 in 2023, fell to $875 in 2024, fell again to $858 in 2025, and recovered only partially to $864 in 2026. 

Over four years, K-12 per-person spending has oscillated within a $32 range without any sustained upward movement.

The contrast between the two lines reflects different financial realities. 

K-12 families, typically managing tighter household budgets, have hit a practical ceiling on back-to-school discretionary spending. 

College families (facing a broader and more expensive set of preparation categories, including larger technology purchases and dorm furnishings) are spending more. 

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Pandemic’s lasting effect

The sharpest single-year jumps in the entire record both occurred in the 2019-2021 period. 

• K-12 spending rose $92 from 2019 to 2020, a 13.2% increase driven by technology purchases as schools shifted to remote learning.
• College spending rose $141 from 2020 to 2021 (the largest single-year jump for either category in eight years) as students equipped themselves for hybrid academic environments.

Those pandemic-era spending levels set a new baseline from which both categories have not retreated. 

K-12 never returned to its pre-2020 level of $697. Also, College never returned to its pre-2020 level of $977. 

ELI5

Every year, the NRF surveys American families about how much they plan to spend getting kids ready for school. 

In 2026, families with college students plan to spend $1,438 per person—a new record—after two years of spending less. 

Families with K-12 students plan to spend $864, which is the same as four years ago. 

The gap between college and K-12 spending is the widest it has ever been.

Source: 

NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics