by Dick Hall-Sizemore

A common complaint, on Bacon’s Rebellion and generally, is about the high costs of colleges. I am usually sympathetic to such complaints. I see the projected costs of the higher ed institutions my grandkids are going to or are considering. But, then, I run across articles like this and this and I become very cynical.

For those of you who do not have access to the Washington Post and the New York Times, I will summarize the articles. They are about students and their parents spending tons of money to decorate their college dorm rooms. There is a whole market out there for items to decorate dorm rooms. Here is the result of a Google search of “Decorate dorm rooms.” The pictures are amazing.

And it is not just the cost of the furnishings. Many students hire specialized design consultants to help them make their dorm rooms “livable.” Costs vary, depending on the range of services desired. A full package can include consulting with the client over what is desired, selecting and procuring the furnishings, and showing up on move-in day to completely set up the room. It is big business in some areas. One dorm design consultant, who graduated from college in 2021 with a degree in integrated marketing communications (I have no idea what that entails), had more than 200 clients in 2024. She employed 25 seasonal employees. Her fee was $10,000 per room ($5,000 for each student). Another consultant, for a “basic bedding, design and decor package” typically charges “$2,500 in design and $3,500 in procurement.”

The National Retail Federation projects that Americans will spend $12.8 billion this year for dorm or college apartment furnishings. Keep in mind that this is for rooms that come already furnished by the college.

Almost all the clients are young women. One consultant did report that she had a male client that wanted his room converted into “an Amazon rainforest.” The clients are primarily from the South or going to schools in the South.

This being 2025, one of the main drivers of this push to create a “homey environment” is social media. Students tell their parents and relatives they want a room “like the ones on TikTok.” They see luxurious rooms on TikTok; they are anxious to load pictures of their rooms on TikTok. One young woman said the picture of her room on TikTok went viral. Another reported that her dorm room layout got about 200 “likes” on TikTok. There is a “Dorm Room Moms” group on Facebook in which women share photos of dorm room layouts, measurements, and tips, along with their feelings about dropping their children off at college.

Yes, these are not typical students, but they are representative of a significant subset of American society that has a lot of money to burn. So, the next time someone complains to you about the cost of sending a kid to college, you might want to ask first how much he or she spent on furnishing their kid’s dorm room.