Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his past Fun Facts here.
1. Back to school sales are the second highest consumer spending period for retailers behind the winter holidays. The average family with children in grades K-12 reportedly spends nearly $700 on back to school items. When adding the K-12 sales to college spending, the total sales are expected to reach over $80 billion.
2. In the US, roughly 480,000 school buses bring students to and from school every day. Cumulatively, these drivers log about 5.8 billion miles each year and save communities an estimated $7.7 billion that would have been realized if these students rode to school in private vehicles.
3. The cost of a four-year education has more than doubled (real values) from 1980 to 2010. The average price of a 4-year education in the US is just over $32,000.
4. On average, school systems spend just over $11,000 on each of the 50 million students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools. In the upcoming school year, this is anticipated to hit around $570 billion in total.
5. In 2011, about 32 million students participated in the National School Lunch Program at a total cost of nearly $11.1 billion.
