As students settle in for the new semester, retailers are seeing them spend significant amounts of money on back-to-college essentials. Those essentials include items like textbooks, pencils, notebooks and iPods? Despite the rising costs of gas, books, and college tuition, students in America continue to shell out the big bucks for one thing: technology.

A quick scan of a college cafeteria demonstrates the prevalence of technology in a college student's lifestyle. Headphones fill the ears of nearly half the students, and the others can be seen chatting away on their cell phones. In some classes, students are tossing the paper and opting to take notes on their laptops instead.

A recent study conducted by the National Retail Federation shows a 27.5% surge in spending on electronics among college students. The study concluded that electronics were the driving force behind the $36.6 billion that students spend as they prepare for college.

These rising costs of technology are balanced out with less spending on what some would deem "the essentials." According to the study, students will spend 14% less on school supplies and 1.8% less on textbooks than in previous years.

"A lot of times I will write a paper directly on my laptop as opposed to writing the rough draft on paper like I used to," says Marion Justus, a journalism major at Florida Community College. She said that new technologies do "cut back on some paper supply expenses."

This surge in technology spending may not be due to personal choice anymore. Many colleges now have a "computer requirement" to ensure that their students all own a certain type of notebook computer.

The University of Florida, for example, requires students in most colleges and degree programs to own certain computers or software. The College of Law requires a laptop computer for all of its students, and there are mandatory software program requirements for students in the College of Journalism & Communications as well. Interior design students must have computers with certain hardware capabilities and must purchase software valued at over $1,200.
These new requirements are forcing pricey technologies to the top of many students' "back-to-school" shopping lists.

Justus acknowledges this increased reliance on technology as a part of academic life. "My MacBook is definitely a necessity. I don't know what I'd do without that. It's a must-have," she says.

Tony Rich, a freshman at Florida Community

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