Statistics of Student Spending

Andrew Iraola

In a recent report from the K Business Stat program, it was found that as ‘K’ students get older; there is a strong link between their level of happiness in shopping, and the amount spent per outings. This is not to say that any grade enjoyed shopping more than the next. The vast majority of ‘K’ students also spend this money on themselves, regardless of age. Spending increases exponentially through the years, with seniors spending an average of $54.70 more than the freshmen per week on average. The main abstract finding of this survey was—as students get older, they typically spend more money, but in a manner that is reflective of all ‘K’ students regardless.

                At first, a strong correlation was found between upperclassmen spending, and the happiness they drew out of it. Looking at spending across each ‘K’ demographic illustrated that the best explanation for this was a higher power in shopping for this age-bracket. Upperclassmen had much more spending on average than the younger section of this sample. With an increase in money to spend, comes more power to shop based off of personal-desire alone.

                However, spending was directed in a similar manner across all four classes at ‘K’. There were similar locations listed as ‘popular spending outlets’, regardless of age in the overall sample. For instance, 78% of the sample listed Meijer as a choice for groceries. ‘Where’ money is spent at ‘K’, does not seem to change during the course of these four years. Nor does the ‘how’, as we can see from the chart to the left. It seems that no matter how much ‘K’ students spend per week, the vast majority of this money is for themselves. The only representative difference between classes from this survey, is ‘how much’ is spent overall. This chart also consequently illustrates this increase overtime. Each number represents an observation, and they increase in age from (1-70) across the bottom. 

Summary for a general audience

Students Know How To Save Money But Choose Not To

One hundred percent of Kalamazoo College students who participated in a random survey rated the Kalamazoo College Bookstore as being a more expensive place to purchase textbooks in comparison to Amazon.com. Students at Kalamazoo College seem to know that when it comes to purchasing textbooks they can save money if they buy from Amazon.com, but the real questions are how much money will students actually save? and if they know that Amazon.com is less expensive, why do some still choose to shop at the on campus store? Through statistical research both of these questions have been answered.

On average Kalamazoo College students rated the on campus bookstore as being approximately 38.75% more expensive than Amazon.com. These estimations appear to be correct because the number 38.75% falls within the average range of 7.5% to 44.5%, which is the given range for the average amount of money that students save when purchasing textbooks from Amazon.com. Good work Kalamazoo College Students, you have proven that you know how to save money.

When students were asked why they shop at the Kalamazoo College bookstore they most frequently responded with "convenience". Based on statistical research this so called "convenience" pertains to the ability to easily return books when dropping/switching classes, as well as overall convenience. While 100% of Kalamazoo College students agree with the fact that Amazon.com is less expensive than the on campus bookstore, 65% of these students still purchase at least one textbook per quarter from the Kalamazoo College bookstore. This information proves that price is not the most important factor in the minds and pockets of Kalamazoo College students when it comes to purchasing textbooks.

Life Changing Statistics

Have you ever wondered how much you could save from renting a textbook instead of buying one? Well read this article for some life changing statistics. The topic of our survey was whether kids bought, rented, borrowed, or a combination of these; when it came to acquiring their textbooks. We found some shocking statistics.

It is quite evident that one can save a boatload of money by renting all of their textbooks. The shocking part is that although this is common knowledge, the majority of students still choose to buy their textbooks at the Kalamazoo College Bookstore. We found that out of the sample size of 52 students, 0% decided to only rent their textbooks, 63% decided to only buy their textbooks, 19% decided to buy and rent their textbooks, 15% of students decided to borrow and buy their textbooks, and finally 2% decided to buy, borrow, and rent their textbooks.

52% bought their books at the K Bookstore, 4% rented them at Chegg, 17% bought them Online, 17% bought and rented them at the Kalamazoo College Bookstore and Chegg, and finally 10% of the students decided to Borrow and Buy their textbooks.

Our study showed that overall students can save a significant amount of money by renting their textbooks; but out of the 52 people we surveyed, not one rented all of their textbooks that they were required to get. This is quite shocking seeing as how Kalamazoo College is already so difficult to afford.

Textbook Costs and Habits

Textbooks account for a large fraction of expenses at Kalamazoo College. In this study, we wanted to get an idea of where Kalamazoo College students purchase their textbooks, and what factors influence this decision. Two particular points of interest were if there was a significant difference in price from the Kalamazoo College Bookstore compared to alternative sources, and if the K College Bookstore could provide any additional services to make the campus store a more appealing option.

From our sample of 61 students, the average amount spent on books was $213.89 per quarter. 37% of books were purchased at the K College Bookstore, 14% from an online retailer, 19% from and online wholesaler, 16% from a private seller, and 14% from other sources (e.g. borrowed from a friend or the library). We calculated that 55% of the total amount spent on books went to alternative sources, such as amazon.com or personal sellers. Out of a sample of 58 books, the average student saved $14.07 per book when purchasing it at an alternate source. We tested to see if there was variation among different populations on campus; however, there is no significant difference between the numbers of upper and underclassmen who use alternative sources, men and women, or hard and social science majors.

The study also surveyed students on the influences behind book-buying habits in an effort to inform the K College Bookstore of what really matters to K students. Not surprisingly, the results showed that price is the most important issue to students. Availability of new books is the least important influence, as most students prefer the lower cost of used books. Finally, we asked if students would be interested in a textbook rental program at the Kalamazoo College Bookstore. While none of the surveyed students rented textbooks this quarter, 64% said that they would be likely or very likely to rent a book Spring Quarter.

Expenses of a K College Student

College is not cheap. Not only do we have to pay thousands of dollars on tuition a year, but we have to spend our left over income on everyday expenses that we might have. Our tuition, room and board for K College, just like for any other college/university, does not include the many things that we have to spend on in a daily basis. It is sometimes necessary to spend on outside things such as food and entertainment and this is when our income tends to be hurt. Based on a survey done at K, the amount of money spent on necessities can reach high amounts.

Out of the 100 respondents (53 female and 47 male who live on campus) of the survey, the average college student at K College’s income is distributed as follows: 21% on outside food, 9% on clothing, 15% on groceries, 9% on cell phone charges, 7% on transportation, 11% on enterainment, 11% on school supplies, 10% on alcohol, and 7% on other expenses last month. Of the all the respondents, 41% of them said to have an on-campus job, while 51% said they didn’t. The average monthly income, based on the data is said to be $122.67 dollars per month and an average of $87.7 dollars in aprental allowance, which is not a big amount considering the many expenses a college student has according to the survey.

These numbers give us a better understanding of the average K College student. Despite the expensive meal plan that on-campus studetns are forced to have, 36% of their monthly income goes to outside food and groceries, that is more than the 21% that is used on alcohol and entertainment. Based on these numbers, it is safe to say that students are not very happy with the food offered on campus, which is encouraging the expenditure outside food and groceries.
Almost half of the students who live on campus an on-campus job with a stable bi-weekly salary. Depending on the number of hours worked during the week and with an allowance, students average over $200 dollars to spend per month, and accroding to the survey, this sometimes is not enough.

K College students have to include the burden of expenses to their large amount of money in their education every month, and with the lack of time fro many working hours, this is not always easy to do. The help of parents is very important for the daily living of their student and by doing so, giving their economic situation the boost it needs.

Kalamazoo College Eating Conditions

At Kalamazoo College, students are generally dissatisfied with the school cafeteria. Of the 52 students surveyed, Only 30.8% of students preferred to eat at the cafeteria. Of the group of students that preferred the cafeteria, 94% cited convenience as a reason while NONE of the students cited the high quality of food, Indicating that most students eat at the cafeteria because it is the easy choice and not the satisfactory choice. Also, the average quality rating of the cafeteria was 2.6 on a 1-5 scale where 5 was very high, 1 was very low, and 3 was average. This shows that students believe the cafeteria quality is below average. Students also rated the variety at 2.7, the freshness of food at 2.5, and the value at 2.4, all being below average ratings. From these data, it seems as though the school cafeteria is subpar and that some changes are necessary to increase student satisfaction.

How and Where Students are Acquiring Their Textbooks.

Students from Kalamazoo College purchase their textbooks from a few different sources. They either purchase them from the Kalamazoo College bookstore (22%), from an online source (39%), or a combination of both (39%). But students also rent their textbooks from online sources. 16.7% of the students surveyed only rented their books online, 36.1% of the students both rented and purchased their books, and 47.2% of the students only purchased their books.

Only 20% of the students who purchased their textbooks said that they did not sell them back while 69% sold them back to the Kalamazoo College Bookstore while the remaining 11% sold them back online. Also, overall as the number of books purchased went up so did the overall price paid for renting or purchasing. But as the number of books purchased went up the price for the most expensive book purchased went down. We looked at the overall GPA of the students and in general the more money the students spent on books the lower their GPA was. So it could be that potentially students learn better from the cheaper text books.