US Back to College Shopping Market Report 2026
Back to college season remains a resilient pillar of the retail calendar, with consumer spending estimated at $88.8 billion in 2025 – the second‑highest total on record.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Outlook for back to college shopping
- Opportunities
- Emphasize versatility, durability and long-term value
- Promote monetary value as an experience, not just a price point
- Explore AI shopping tools to simplify the shopping experience
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THE MARKET
- Snapshot – market size and forecast
- College students and the economic outlook
- More young adults opt for community colleges and trade schools as overall college enrollment edges up
- Graph 1: college students’ program enrollment (self-reported), 2024-25 school year versus 2025-26 school year
- Students still value their independence, but more are living at home
- Graph 2: college students’ living arrangements, 2024-25 school year versus 2025-26
- Market size and forecast
- Back to college spending remains high
- Graph 3: consumers’ planned back-to-college spending, in current dollars, 2019-24
- Planned back to college spending in current dollars, 2019-25
- Electronics anchor college spending
- Graph 4: distribution of consumers’ planned back to college spending, by category, 2019-24
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BACK TO COLLEGE SEASON UPDATE
- Shopping participation and approach
- Shopping participation remains steady…
- Graph 5: back to college shopping participation, 2025
- Graph 6: back to college shopping approach, 2025
- …but students are eager to reduce spending
- Students in non-traditional programs also shop for college
- Graph 7: shopping participation and approach, by program enrollment, 2025-26 school year
- Non-traditional pathways create new opportunities for engagement
- Retailers shopped and shopping methods
- “Big three” retailers continue to dominate as students consolidate purchases
- Graph 8: retailers shopped, 2025-26 school year
- Mobile‑first ecommerce is critical to winning with today’s students
- Graph 9: year-over-year comparison, back to college shopping methods, 2021-25
- Shopping timeframes
- College shopping timeframes reflect its own defined season within the broader back to school market
- Graph 10: back to college shopping timeframe, 2024-26
- Graph 11: back to college shopping timeframes vs K-12 shopping timeframes, 2026
- College season carves out its own space in the market
- Price pressures prompt earlier shopping habits
- Graph 12: attitudes toward back to college shopping timeframe, by household income, 2026
- Look beyond the season to maintain connections and support stock-up
- Back to college purchases
- Students invest strategically in learning and lifestyle
- Graph 13: back to college purchases/planned purchases, 2025-26 school year
- Student living spaces are a form of self-expression
- Dorms Get a Little Extra
- Bundled deals will support tech upgrades and complementary devices
- Graph 14: back to college electronics purchases, 2026
- College women fuel discretionary purchases
- Graph 15: select back to college purchases, by gender, 2025
- Lifestyle-led activations spark seasonal growth in apparel and beauty categories
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UNDERSTANDING THE STUDENT MINDSET
- Monetary value remains in focus
- Economic pressures drive a need for savings
- Brands can’t rely on one value lever as students mix-and-match approaches to saving
- Graph 16: select back to college shopping behaviors, 2023-26
- Amplify value and drive engagement with rewards and incentives
- Graph 17: interest in back to college shopping options – rewards and incentives, 2026
- Student-specific memberships offer year-long savings
- Students feel emotionally connected to the back to college season
- Foster emotional connections within the college market
- The growing number of college partnerships is raising expectations for brands
- Graph 18: attitudes toward brand relationships, 2025-26
- Help students manage stress and wellbeing
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LOOKING AHEAD: TRENDS, INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITIES
- Convert social discovery into purchase
- Graph 19: back to college shopping behaviors – social commerce, 2023-26
- College announcement “bed parties” create a new spending category
- Expand into licensed apparel and branded collegiate merchandise
- Cultivate an active presence on college campuses
- Tap technology to build convenience into the experience
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APPENDIX
- Report scope & market definition
- The market
- Planned back to college spending, in inflation-adjusted dollars, 2019-25
- Expected per person college spending, in current dollars, 2019-25
- The back to college segment comprises roughly two-thirds of total back to school spending
- Graph 20: consumers’ total planned back to school spending, including K-12 and college segments, 2025
- The consumer
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology – US
- Generation groups
- Brands and retailers have room to innovate with new shopping concepts
- Graph 21: interest in back to college shopping options/concepts, 2026
- Attitudes toward back to college shopping
- Graph 22: college students’ attitudes toward back to college shopping, 2026
- Back to college shopping influences
- Graph 23: back to school shopping influences, 2025
- Abbreviations
US Back to College Shopping Market – Trends and Insights
- Back to college season remains a resilient pillar of the retail calendar, with consumer spending estimated at $88.8 billion in 2025 – the second‑highest total on record. Accounting for two‑thirds of total back to school spending, the college segment commands near‑universal student participation, underscoring its essential role despite affordability pressures. However, students are becoming more selective, stretching budgets through deal‑seeking and consolidated shopping trips, raising the stakes for brands to clearly communicate value.
- Looking ahead, structural shifts in higher education have the potential to reshape the market. Enrollment shifts to community colleges, trade schools, and certificate programs have yet to dampen demand, but are redirecting spending toward affordable, flexible, and career‑relevant essentials, rather than traditional campus‑centric purchases.
- Nevertheless, the traditional 4-year college experience remains central. For this audience, emotional connections are especially meaningful, with over 70% of students responding positively to on-campus brand activations, student ambassador programs and marketing that authentically reflects college life. Brands and retailers that combine emotional relevance with tangible savings, personalized incentives, and digital convenience will be best positioned to win.
This Report Looks at the Following Areas:
- College students’ back to college shopping participation, approaches and behaviors
- Impact of the economy and other market drivers on the back to college season
- Back to college purchases and retailers shopped
- Back to college shopping timeframe
- Consumer mindset, trends and attitudes toward back to college shopping
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