Name:___________________________

College Costs Project

Being high school seniors, you are not very familiar with the costs of attending college. Over the past several years, tuition and fees have risen dramatically across the country. y goal is to give you !nowledge a"out the advantages of attending community college prior to attending a four#year college. $e anticipate that this would "e a cheaper option for most students around the %nited &tates. 'n your analysis, we would li!e you to compare the cost of attending a four#year college of your choice and the cost of attending a two#year college (Community College) and then the same four# year college as a"ove for the final two years. *o ma!e this comparison, you will need several assumptions. +ssume that students spend four years in college. By this, we mean that a student will spend all four years at the four#year college or the first two years at the two#year college and last two years at the four#year college. +ssume that you will "e attending college over the school years starting in ,-./, ,-.0, ,-.1, and ,-.2. 'gnore any costs associated with room and "oard. +lso, ignore any financial aid students might receive. *o ma!e the comparison, we would li!e you to complete a num"er of tas!s: Graphing Assignment Make a Scatter Plot of College Costs: 3ind the past .- years tuition costs for each college. a!e scatter plots of the data you found on graph paper. Please use the .- most recent year4s tuition costs. *he independent varia"le should correspond to time and the dependent varia"le should correspond to tuition and fees at a particular time. &ince you will "e e5amining costs at two#year colleges and four#year colleges, you will need to show which points correlate to which college. Technology Assignment Find a Linear F nction for College Costs: 3ind the line of "est fit for the data points on each of the scatter plots. Put each of the linear functions on the scatter plot to insure that it appro5imates the points on the graph. a. 'nterpret the slopes and intercepts of the functions in *echnology +ssignment. ". %se your functions to e5trapolate and find the total tuition and fees to attend the two# year college you chose in years that start in ,-./ and ,-.0 and the four#year college you chose for years that start in ,-.1 and ,-.2. c. %se your functions to e5trapolate and find the total tuition and fees to attend the four# year college for all four years which start in ,-./, ,-.0, ,-.1, and ,-.2. !riting Assignment !rap p and "eflection: *ype at least a two page paper (dou"le spaced) reflecting and wrapping up the data you collected. a. 'n this one page paper you should discuss a few items. i. $rite an interpretation a"out the slopes and intercepts of the functions you found in the technology assignment. '3 they don4t ma!e sense conte5tually, please still e5plain what they mean so we !now you understand what intercepts and the slope of an e6uation means.

Name:___________________________

ii. 7oes a linear model "est fit this data or would some other model wor! "etter8 'f so which one and what is the regression line9curve8 'f you thin! some other model fits the data "etter you should recalculate the costs of tuition in part ", c, and d a"ove "efore you continue. iii. $hat are your totals for each case8 (two#year college then four#year college and four#year college for all four years) iv. 7iscussion the pros and cons for each case. 3irst attending the two year college then the four year college, and attending the four year college for all four years. v. +ssume that while going to the two year college the student lived at home. $hile attending the four year college (for two years or four) they spend :.-,--- for room and "oard, food, renters insurance and other e5penses ac6uired from not living at home per year. 3ind the new totals then write a paragraph e5planation of why someone would choose to go to a four year college for all four years despite the cost difference. $hen you are done please turn in your graphs and email me your papers. i. ;mail to <o!oe-1=yahoo.com and in the su"ject line put College Cost Project. >ou are welcome to find your own we"site "ut this is the one that ' found. 't gave tuition costs all the way "ac! to .?@2 for some schools. http:99www.collegecalc.org9colleges9

Arading Bu"ric
.. ,. C. /. 0. 1. 2. @. ?. .-. _____9,-. One point for each of the ,- points graphed on graph paper. .- for each college. _____9,. One point for each line drawn on the graph relating to the two college costs. _____9,. One point for finding the tuition cost for each year at the two year college. _____9/. One point for finding the tuition cost for each year at the four year college. _____9,. 3inding the total cost of tuition for each situation. _____9,. &tating the line of "est fit for "oth situations. (one point for each line) _____9/. $riting an interpretation a"out the slope and intercept for "oth e6uations. _____9/. 7oes the linear model "est fit this data and an e5planation of why. 'f it does not then e5tra credit for finding a "etter model and recalculating all of the costs. %p to 1 points e5tra. _____9/. 7iscussion the pros and cons for each case. 3irst attending the two year college then the four year college, and attending the four year college for all four years. _____91. 3inding the totals with the :.-,--- per year while not living at home and

Name:___________________________

discussing why someone would still choose to go to a four year college for all four years. *otal: _____90-