04-09-2023, 10:25 AM
BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
Updated 7:43 AM GMT+8, September 4, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — From US$300 studded headboards and US$100 coffee table books to custom-made cabinets to disguise your mini-fridge, students are spending big bucks to decorate their dorm rooms, adding yet another layer to the soaring costs of college.
Some are even going so far as to hire interior designers to beautify their 12 feet by 20 feet of space.
......
Overall, the back-to-college season is big business, with families expected to spend an average of about US$1,367 per person, up 14% from a year ago
......
Jamel Donnor, a professor at William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a leading expert on inequity in education, said the big divide in dorm furnishings marks an “unspoken reality of the have and have nots.” He noted that the stark differences in dorm decorating between those who have money and those who don’t can make some students wonder if they should even be at their college.
“There’s this imposter syndrome,” he said.
More photos and the full report at: https://apnews.com/article/dorm-room-fur...328718a3b3