Lansing — Parents needing to send packages of essential items to the young adults they recently shipped off to college campuses after paying cold, hard cash for that first semester’s tuition bill can save some extra money by looking no further than their local Post Office™. For Back to School, it’s all in the box: the Priority Mail® Flat Rate Box from the U.S. Postal Service®. That’s the simplicity of shipping with a Priority Mail Flat Rate Box. Everything you need for a student package will fit into one of four different sized boxes available — and will ship for one flat price no matter the weight or destination.

Home-baked goods and other snack foods, school supplies, gift cards, music CDs and even travel tickets to visit home make the perfect Back to School in a Box package for students arriving at college campuses across the country. “When shipping packages to college students on campus, Flat Rate Boxes from the Postal Service offer great value and convenience,” said Jon Scott, A/Postmaster. “With a range of boxes to choose from, customers can find the right sized package to meet their needs. And with one flat rate, the price of Priority Mail Flat Rate shipping is always right too.”

Scott added that Priority Mail flat-rate packages arrive in an average of 2–3 days. Saturday and residential deliveries are included at no extra cost.

The four box size configurations are the Priority Mail Flat Rate Small Box, about the size of three stacked DVDs; two sizes of Priority Mail Flat Rate Medium Boxes, one similar in size and shape to a shoe box and the other similar to a flat clothing box; and the Priority Mail Flat Rate Large Box, with 50 percent more space inside than the medium boxes. 

Prices and measurements are listed in the chart below.  As shown, customers who order Priority Mail flat-rate shipping online at www.usps.com will receive a discount. There is also a special $2 discount for the Priority Mail Large Flat Rate Box when shipped to military APO/FPO addresses.

For more information about shipping with the Postal Service, customers can visit their local Post Office or go online at www.usps.com.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.