A recently released survey from the Rubicon Project has indicated that the average cost of school supplies is on the rise as a result of an increased need for technology purchases, THEJournal.com said.

The survey, "Back-to-School Consumer Pulse Poll" was conducted last month and surveyed 1,000 parents of K-12 and college students.

"It found that 56 percent of parents plan to spend more money on school supplies compared to last year, with K-12 parents planning to spend an average of $873 per child, and college parents planning to spend an average of $1,124 per student," the article said.

Important to note is the small span of time the survey was conducted over as well as the small sample size surveyed, but it does indicate some interesting preliminary results to be researched on further.

According to the survey, technology was the number one thing parents planned to buy for their students for the upcoming school year.

"72 percent of parents surveyed said they plan to buy technology mostly as part of their back-to-school shopping, compared to 61 percent for apparel and retail items and 50 percent for school supplies."

It also revealed interesting trends such as 50% of K-8 parents saying their child already owned a tablet with 44% indicating they planned to purchase a tablet for the upcoming school year.

Further, "58 percent of K-8 parents in the South reported buying tablets, compared to 29 percent in the Midwest," the article said.

Read the full article and report here and comment your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

07/08/2015