Students wanting to see the most bang for their buck can rest easy knowing the only significant increase in the 2019 Student Price Index was in beer and pizza. The Student Price Index released by the K-State Economics Club revealed a overall 0.4 percent increase from 2018.
In 2018, students saw an increase of 3.5 percent.
The SPI is based on purchases made by typical Kansas State students and includes tuition, gas, housing, pizza, beer, groceries and more.
Pizza had the highest increase at 18.2 percent.
“[P]izza, which was one of the few prices that increased significantly is still available at a considerably lower price if I go pick up the pizza myself,” Cody Murphy, freshman in engineering, said in a press release. “Only a change in the cost of delivery has led to the price increase evident in the SPI for this good.”
Beer had an increase of 8.9 percent.
“Beer generally has many substitutes for those wanting to consume alcohol in some form, such as wine and spirits,” Mitchell Taylor, junior in economics and club treasurer said. “As a result, beer prices are likely elastic, meaning that students will likely consume much less beer on average as the price keeps increasing at such a rate. Our executive council has been discussing surveying more bars and restaurants in the future to get a better picture of overall beer prices in Aggieville.”
Other increases were groceries at 1.5 percent and textbooks at 2 percent. Decreases included gasoline at 7.4 percent and non-greek housing at 4.8 percent.
The main reason the SPI increase was low is due to tuition which was unchanged from last year. In addition, movie ticket prices, ICAT tickets and internet prices remained steady.
Karsen Adams, president of the Economics Club and junior in economics, said it is unusual to have no major inflation affecting students. Sometimes, Adams said, no news is news.
