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College Market

Power of Generation Z


Date:
June 11, 2019

Massive Market Size

The total size of the college/university market in US & Canada consists of approximately 22 million students.[1][2] That is more than the population of Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand, and Jamaica combined![3]

Costs Rising

The average cost a student incurs during one year of a Public In-State program including housing, books, and other expenses is $25,890USD.[4] If a student invested that money in Netflix in September of 2015 and withdrew that investment four years later in September 2018, they would have $98,000USD in the bank.[5]

Huge Environmental Impact

One in three people aged 18-24 are forecasted to buy at least one piece of second-hand clothing in 2019. This will save over 11 million kg of non-renewable resources which is equivalent to the amount of gas a 26mpg car would use driving around the earth 1,280 times.[6]

Time Is Entertainment, Time Is Money

92% of students have access to a Netflix account and watch a little over 50 minutes per day per user (we know… it sounds low).[7] If these students put that time into working at McDonald’s, they would make $2,500/year based on a wage of $8.22/hr.

Appetite for Deals

70% of college students are working while enrolled and graduate with an average of $37,172 in student loans.[8][9] This is leaving new grads very money conscious after completing their education. If you took all the students in the graduating class of 2018 and summed up their debt, it would equal more than the 2018 US federal budget for the department of agriculture, homeland security, health and human services.[10]

Book Prices Sky-Rocketing?

65% of students skip buying required books at some point in their college careers due to a lack of affordability. Students spend an average of $1,240USD on textbooks per year.[4] This is because the average cost of college textbooks has risen four times faster than the rate of inflation over the past 10 years.[11]

Over 11 Million Students Without a Personal Mode of Transportation

Over 53% of students do not have a vehicle with them on campus.[12] This equals more students than the number of people that fly out of LAX Airport in 3 months.[13]

Mobile First

Studies show that students spend an average of 9 hours per day on their mobile devices.[14] This is more than double the rest of the population who spend just over 4 hours per day on their mobile devices.[15]

Student Discretionary Spending

The discretionary spending of US college students in 2018 topped $212 billion.[16] This means that the students in US spend more than the total revenue generated in 2018 from BMW, Audi, and Porsche combined.

More Time Partying Than Studying

An average college student is intoxicated for 10.6 hours per week.[17] This is nearly double the average time that students spend in class each week (6 hours) showing that many students prioritize leisure over work.[18]

How Students Combat High Prices

Buying and selling second-hand (textbooks, clothing, shoes, electronics, etc.) can put almost $2,000 in students’ pockets annually.[19] Thanks to apps like Mijem, students can rack up $8,000 over the course of a four-year education… Enough for a one-week all-inclusive grad trip to Punta Cana for 8 people.

Sources

  1. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
  2. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181128/dq181128c-eng.htm
  3. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/
  4. https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-estimated-undergraduate-budgets-2018-19
  5. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NFLX/
  6. https://www.thredup.com/resale
  7. https://lendedu.com/blog/netflix-millennials-viewers-not-subscribers/
  8. https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/workinglearners/
  9. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/heres-how-much-the-average-student-loan-borrower-owes-when-they-graduate.html
  10. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-presidential-budget-2018-proposal/?utm_term=.5ea78cf055c4
  11. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-behind-the-soaring-cost-of-college-textbooks/
  12. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2018-03-06/11-national-universities-where-students-rarely-bring-cars
  13. https://www.lawa.org/en/lawa-investor-relations/statistics-for-lax/10-year-summary/passengers
  14. https://psychcentral.com/news/2014/08/31/new-study-finds-cell-phone-addiction-increasingly-realistic-possibility/74312.html
  15. https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/are-you-on-your-phone-too-much-average-person-spends-this-many-hours-on-it-every-day.html
  16. https://www.sheerid.com/marketing-to-college-students/
  17. https://www.party0.org/how-much-college-students-spend-alcohol/
  18. https://thefederalist.com/2016/09/11/study-college-students-spend-far-time-playing-studying/
  19. https://www.kijiji.ca/kijijicentral/general/get-ready-college-budget/