CWU Student Price Index

Document Type

Poster

Event Website

https://source2022.sched.com/

Start Date

16-5-2022

End Date

16-5-2022

Keywords

Student, Expenses, Inflation

Abstract

The Central Washington University (CWU) SPI project is a project designed to measure a Student Price Index (SPI), which is a price index of student expenses at Central Washington University. One of the main aims of the SPI project is to take the methodology used to find the costs of living standards on a national scale as done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and to put them in a more applicable lens for the average student at CWU. To do this, we administered a survey to students on the Ellensburg campus with the intent of collecting data on student expenditures and purchasing choices. Our initial year-over-year findings reveal that the SPI increased by 9.1% percent in February 2022 relative to February 2021. Increases the largest contributors. While the rise in minimum wage in Washington State between 2021 and 2022 was measured at 5.8%, the SPI data indicates a 3.3% pay reduction in real wages when adjusting for inflation. This represents a larger pay cut than the average American (approximately 2.3%) in the same period. We believe the results from this study and future updates provide useful insights regarding students’ cost of living, which is of immense relevance to university administrators as well as current and prospective students. We use simple demand and supply models to qualitatively examine the estimated increase in the price of take-out meals.

College of Business Presentation Award Winner.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Tennecia Dacass

Department/Program

Economics, Accounting

Additional Mentoring Department

Economics

Additional Files

Cooper Hashimura Mittelsteadt Young - CWU Price Index - SOURCE.mp4 (11867 kB)
Video Presentation

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May 16th, 12:00 AM May 16th, 12:00 AM

CWU Student Price Index

The Central Washington University (CWU) SPI project is a project designed to measure a Student Price Index (SPI), which is a price index of student expenses at Central Washington University. One of the main aims of the SPI project is to take the methodology used to find the costs of living standards on a national scale as done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and to put them in a more applicable lens for the average student at CWU. To do this, we administered a survey to students on the Ellensburg campus with the intent of collecting data on student expenditures and purchasing choices. Our initial year-over-year findings reveal that the SPI increased by 9.1% percent in February 2022 relative to February 2021. Increases the largest contributors. While the rise in minimum wage in Washington State between 2021 and 2022 was measured at 5.8%, the SPI data indicates a 3.3% pay reduction in real wages when adjusting for inflation. This represents a larger pay cut than the average American (approximately 2.3%) in the same period. We believe the results from this study and future updates provide useful insights regarding students’ cost of living, which is of immense relevance to university administrators as well as current and prospective students. We use simple demand and supply models to qualitatively examine the estimated increase in the price of take-out meals.

College of Business Presentation Award Winner.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2022/COB/3