Executive Summary

• Total back-to-school and back-to-college spending is expected to decline by 1% to $82.8 billion, from $83.6 billion last year, according to a survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics.
• On the other hand, back-to-college spending is expected to increase by 2% to a record $55.3 billion, according to the survey.
• Back-to-school shoppers plan to spend $684.79 per family, slightly below last year’s figure, and the top-three categories are clothing ($236.90), electronics such as computers, calculators or phones ($187.10) and shoes ($138.66).