Price-tag for 2015 Back-to-School Supply Lists Now Over $70

Health and cleaning supplies required as often as learning tools

Wrentham, Mass. – The numbers are in: the cost of the average elementary back-to-school supply list in 2015 is $70.93. According to TeacherLists, the smarter way to manage, share and find school supply lists, one of the factors driving the increase in back-to-school spending is the addition of health and cleaning supplies like tissues and hand sanitizer to lists traditionally filled with pens, glue sticks and notebooks.

With school budgets tighter than ever and teachers being asked to do more with less, parents are being called on to contribute more during the back-to-school season. Per Teacherlists, school supply lists increasingly include non-learning supplies alongside education tools.
To view the full news release, visit www.teacherlists.com.

Featured

  • Doerr School of Sustainability Accelerator

    From Concrete Warehouse to Innovation Hub: Accelerating Sustainability at Stanford

    The transformation of a once windowless, concrete publishing warehouse into a sun-drenched center for global innovation began with a single, fundamental challenge: how to turn an industrial storage shell into a space built for human connection.

  • Wold Completes Geothermal Projects at Two Minnesota Schools

    Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has completed two geothermal expansion projects for Mounds View Public Schools in Shoreview, Minn., according to a news release. The work at Highview Middle School and Irondale High School serves the district’s long-term goal of reducing energy costs and dependency on non-renewable fuel sources, as well as improving building performance.

  • Designing Third Spaces That Do What AI Can't

    In 2026, education is evolving faster than ever. With AI reshaping everything from lesson planning to personalized instruction, schools and universities are turning their attention to what AI can’t replicate: spaces that foster collaboration, community, and creativity.

  • URI Cuts Underwater Ribbon on New Ocean Robotics Laboratory

    The University of Rhode Island recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Ocean Robotics Laboratory at its Narragansett Bay Campus, according to a news release. Two students used a remotely operated vehicle to cut an underwater ribbon in a 30-by-20-foot test tank.