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On the first day of move-in at N.C. State University, new students lugged carts full of furniture and decorations across campus and up residence hall staircases.
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College dorm rooms are famously small, and usually shared by at least two people, leaving limited real estate for each student.
Yet some families of first-year N.C. State students spent thousands setting up rooms they’ll live in for about 10 months.
That may sound expensive to you, and parents who spoke with The News & Observer would agree.
Consider, though, that these families are not taking the extravagant path, which may include hiring a designer to create a perfectly curated dorm room, to the tune of $5,000 per student.
N.C. State residents brought hand-me-downs from older siblings and items from home, and shopped at stores everyone knows — retailers including Costco, Target and Walmart.
Across the country, college students and their families are expected to spend an average of $1,437.79 on back-to-school shopping this year, according to a survey from retail advocacy group National Retail Federation. That amount — which includes costs of items such as electronics, room furnishings, clothing, food and personal care items — breaks the record set in 2023, $1,366.95.
Hendersonville resident Matthew Detwiler had some hand-me-downs from his two older siblings, and brought some prized possessions, including his records and CDs, from home. But he needed to buy some furnishings.
“My mom made a lot of executive decisions on what she thought would suit the room best,” he said.
Detwiler’s mother, Andrea Detwiler, has move-in day figured out. The family came prepared with labeled storage bins and supplies to clean the room before hauling in Detwiler’s things.
Andrea Detwiler shopped at Amazon, Target and Costco for the dorm supplies, estimating that she spent about $1,000 — and that doesn’t include the new laptop Matthew needs for his environmental engineering studies.
“Similar items are more expensive than they would have been,” she said, drawing from her past experience moving her two older children into their college dorms.
Another difference this year: She noticed more social media posts telling her she needed this fan or that elevated night stand.
Amelia Graham, a textile design student from Hickory, is following in the footsteps of her sister, who’s a senior at N.C. State.
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She’s using her sister’s old mattress topper and some of her decorations, but bought her own bedding, ottoman and rug, shopping at HomeGoods, T.J. Maxx and Amazon.
Graham said she doesn’t know how much she spent on back-to-school shopping, but she started checking items off the list in May.
Not all younger siblings borrowed from their older siblings, though.
Charlotte resident Jaela Simmons, for example, wanted her own things, many of which were packed into monogrammed containers for move-in day.
Her mother, Angela Simmons, estimates that she spent “well over $1,000,” mostly at Amazon and Target, on furnishings for Jaela’s dorm.
And having shopped in past years for Jaela’s siblings, who attended Elon University and N.C. Central University, Angela Simmons can attest that furnishing Jaela’s dorm was “way more expensive.”
Raleigh resident Eden Sharp, who’s entering the exploratory studies program to figure out what she wants to major in, brought furnishings to make her dorm cozy — including a headboard, rug, curtains and an air purifier.
She also had bed skirts, desk skirts and chair skirts — “things to cover all of the wood, because I hate wood,” she said.
Sharp’s dad built for her and her roommate shelves that sit atop their desks and a dresser nightstand for additional storage.
“I wanted everything to match,” Sharp said.
She did most of her shopping at Target, where she took advantage of student discounts, Amazon, Costco, T.J. Maxx and The Container Store, and spent around $2,500.
The King family traveled from Kent in the United Kingdom to help aerospace engineering student Thomas King move in. He’s studying in Raleigh for a year abroad, away from the University of Surrey.
Because the family had to fly here, they were limited in how much they could bring, said Simon King, Thomas’ father.
Walmart and Target were running low on stock. And part of the family’s shopping experience included learning some American quirks. Beds here are sized differently than in the U.K, for example, said Ollie King, Thomas’ brother.
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They spent about $1,000 on items for the dorm, King said.
“We had to buy a lot more here than we would have done back home,” King said.
This story was originally published August 14, 2026 at 10:42 AM.