Marketing to Students - Back to School Marketing Statistics: 2007-2008

Summertime is winding down, and summer vacations are coming to an end. It's
back-to-school time! It's a time that many children eagerly anticipate --
catching up with old friends, making new ones and settling into a new daily
routine. Parents and children alike are scanning the newspapers and Web
sites looking for upcoming sales to shop for a multitude of school supplies
and the latest clothing fads and essentials. This edition of Facts for
Features highlights the many statistics associated with the return to
classrooms by our nation's students and teachers.

Back-to-School Shopping
$7.1 billion
The amount of money spent at family clothing stores in August 2006. Only in
November and December -- the holiday shopping season -- were sales
significantly higher. Similarly, sales at bookstores in August 2006 totaled
$2.1 billion, an amount approached in 2006 only by sales in January and
December. <http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html>

For back-to-school shopping, choices of retail establishments abound: In
2005, there were 24,659 family clothing stores, 6,305 children and infants
clothing stores, 26,416 shoe stores, 9,501 office supplies and stationery
stores, 23,195 sporting goods stores, 11,077 bookstores and 9,589
department stores.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/010192.html

Students
75.8 million
The number of children and adults enrolled in school throughout the country
in October 2005 -- from nursery school to college. That amounts to about
one-fourth of the U.S. population 3 and older. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

Pre-K through 12
Enrollment
54%
Percentage of 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in school in October 2005. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

70%
Percentage of children enrolled in kindergarten who attended all day, as of
October 2005. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

55.8 million
The projected number of students to be enrolled in the nation's elementary
and high schools (grades K-12) this fall.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

11%
Projected percentage of elementary and high school students enrolled in
private schools this fall.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

41%
Percentage of elementary and high school students who were minorities, as
of October 2005. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

22%
Percentage of elementary and high school students with at least one
foreign-born parent in October 2005. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

42%
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who participated in sports as of 2003,
which was the most popular extracurricular activity. About one-third of
children this age participated in club activities and 29 percent in
lessons. Lessons include those taken after school or on the weekend in
subjects like music, dance, language, computers or religion. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/009412.html

75%
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who were enrolled in school and
academically "on-track " (i.e., enrolled in school at or above the grade
level for peers their age) as of 2003. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/009412.html

24%
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who were in a special class for gifted
students or did advanced work in any subject, such as honors and advanced
placement classes, as of 2003. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/009412.html

41%
Percentage of children 12 to 17 who had ever attended or been enrolled in
first grade or higher and had changed schools at some point as of 2003. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/009412.html

Languages

10.5 million
Number of school-age children (5 to 17) who speak a language other than
English at home, about one in five in this age group.
Most of them (7.5 million) speak Spanish at home. (Source: 2005 American
Community Survey)

Lunchtime
30.1 million
Average number of children participating each month in the national school
lunch program in 2006.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

10 billion
The nation's total apple production, in pounds, in 2006. The chances are
good that the apples your children present to their teachers
or enjoy for lunch were grown in Washington state, which accounted for more
than half of the nation's total production.
<http://www.usda.gov/nass/>

College
18 million
The projected number of students enrolled in the nation's colleges and
universities this fall. This is up from 12.8 million 20 years ago.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

37%
Percentage of all college students 25 and older in October 2005; 56 percent
of these older students attended school part time. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

69%
Percentage of undergraduates enrolled in four-year colleges in October
2005. Of those enrolled in such schools, 81 percent attended full time. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

49%
Percentage of 18- and 19-year-olds enrolled in college in 2005.
<
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

56%
Percentage of undergraduates who were women in October 2005. Among graduate
students, the corresponding
percentage was even higher: 59 percent. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007909.html

Learning and Earning
21%
Percentage of high school students who were employed as of October 2005. <
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html>

50%
Percentage of full-time college students who were employed as of October
2005. <http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school.html>

How Many Schools?
95,726
Number of public elementary and secondary schools in 2003-04. The
corresponding number of private elementary and secondary schools was
28,384. <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Tables 228 and 252.

4,276
Number of institutions of higher learning that granted college degrees in
2005. (Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

1.1 million
Number of students who were home-schooled in 2003. That was 2 percent of
all students 5 to 17.
<http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Table 227.

3,294
The number of public charter schools nationwide in 2004-05. These schools,
granted a charter exempting them from selected state and local rules and
regulations, enrolled 887,000 students. (Source: Upcoming Statistical
Abstract of the United States: 2008)

Teachers and Other School Personnel

6.8 million
Number of teachers in the United States in 2006. Some 2.7 million teach at
the elementary and middle school level. The remainder include those
teaching at the postsecondary, secondary and preschool and kindergarten
levels. (Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

$57,300
Average annual salary of public elementary and secondary school teachers in
Connecticut as of the 2003-2004 school year -- the highest of any state.
Teachers in South Dakota received the lowest pay -- $33,200. The national
average was $46,800. High school principals earned $86,938 annually in
2004-05. <http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Tables 240 and 241

$14.18
Average hourly wage for the nation’s school bus drivers in 2004-05.
Custodians earned $12.61, while cafeteria workers made $10.33. <
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Table 241

Technology
14.2 million
Number of computers available for classroom use in the nation’s elementary
and secondary schools as of the 2005-2006 school year. That works out to
one computer for every four students. <
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Table 248

100%
Percentage of public schools with Internet access as of fall 2003. <
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/>, Table 246

83% and 43%
Percentage of children 3 to 17 using a computer and the Internet,
respectively, at school as of fall 2003. <
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html>

75%
Among children 3 to 17 accessing the Internet in fall 2003, whether at
home, school or elsewhere, the percentage who used it to complete school
assignments. This was the most common reason for children to use the
Internet. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/miscellaneous/005863.html

66%
Among children 3 to 17 using a computer at home in fall 2003, the
percentage who used it to complete school assignments. This was the second
most common home computer use for children, behind playing games. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/miscellaneous/005863.html

The Rising Cost of College
$13,425
Average tuition, room and board (for in-state students) at the nation’s
four-year public colleges and universities for an entire academic year
(2005-06). That is more than double the corresponding figure in 1990.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

$36,510
Average tuition, room and board at the nation’s four-year private colleges
and universities for one academic year (2005-06). That also is more than
double the corresponding 1990 figure. (Source: Upcoming Statistical
Abstract of the United States: 2008)

$6,291
Average amount of aid received by full-time college students in 2001-02.
More than half of college students receive some form of financial aid from
outside their families to help pay for their education. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/007383.html

The Rewards of Staying in School
$79,946
Average annual 2005 earnings of workers 18 and older with an advanced
degree. This compares with $54,689 a year for those with bachelor’s
degrees, $29,448 for those with a high school diploma only and $19,915 for
those without a high school diploma. <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/009749.html

$67,069
Average starting salary offered to bachelor’s degree candidates in
petroleum engineering in 2006, among the highest of any field of study. At
the other end of the spectrum were those majoring in the humanities; they
were offered an average of $31,183. (Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract
of the United States: 2008)

Graduation
3.3 million
Projected number of high school diplomas that will be awarded in the
2007-08 school year.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

3 million
Number of college degrees expected to be conferred in the 2007-08 school
year.
(Source: Upcoming Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

Government Spending on Public Education

$8,701
The per-pupil expenditure on public elementary and secondary education
nationally in 2005. New York ($14,119) spent the most among states or state
equivalents, followed by New Jersey ($13,800), the District of Columbia
($12,979), Vermont ($11,835) and Connecticut ($11,572). Utah ($5,257) spent
the least per student, followed by Arizona ($6,261), Idaho ($6,283),
Mississippi ($6,575) and Oklahoma ($6,613). <
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/010125.html

Satisfaction
7%
Among households with a child in the local public school, the percentage
who expressed dissatisfaction with the schools in 2003. Fifteen percent of
these households said they would prefer a different school for their child.
<
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/families_households/009884.html

Would you like to reach students using Direct Mail? Check out these mailing list recommendations for reaching Students and Young People.

For more information on these mailing lists and others, please contact NMOA advisor Jerry Mamola by phone at: 732-833-4334 or via email: jmamola@optonline.net

For more information on these mailing lists and others, please contact NMOA advisor Jerry Mamola by phone at: 732-833-4334 or via email: jmamola@optonline.net