Even though community college is known to be a more accessible option to receiving higher education, it can still be costly for students.
BestColleges is a database to inform the public on college resources and statistics. They discovered that in 2022 to 2023 the average college student spent $285 on course materials including textbooks.
Pierce College could help cut that price for students by partnering with a charitable program that provides school supply kits to students at the beginning of every semester.
According to educator and research analyst Melanie Hanson from the Education Data Initiative, there is a link between debt and the necessity for social programs.
“Consumer spending is directly linked to personal finance,” Hanson said. “Economists agree that when consumers have less expendable income due to debt obligations, they decrease spending. As more Americans take on greater amounts of student loan debt, they rely on social programs to make ends meet.”
Elgin Community College in Illinois created Project Backpack, which is a program that provides school supplies, backpacks and other resources to students from kindergarten to college within their school districts.
According to their website, President and Manager of Elgin Community College Programming Board Taylor Lantz said these programs strongly affected their academic career.
“As a child, I was that student who had to wait in line at similar backpack distribution events, and my parents would rely on others’ generosity to make my school year a good year,” Lantz said. “This time, I got to be on the other side of the event.”
Some of our future educators, engineers, leaders, artists and more need help getting the school supplies that will lead them to their degrees. All they need is a bit more accessibility.
Pierce could host an event at the bodega on campus with their school supply charity of choice to give out backpacks filled with the basic supply necessities.
Students could show up with proof of enrollment to receive a standard backpack that comes with pens, pencils, highlighters and notebooks. If they bring their school schedule as well Pierce could offer additional materials that could be needed for the course.
Students and faculty could also donate their supplies for the cause.
