Holmes 1

Quinn Holmes

Pre-AP Algebra 2 Pd. 1

Mr. Bauer

10/27/15

Regression Project Essay

Many students who are getting ready for college have a lot on their mind. A big thing that

keeps nagging them is tuition and if student aid will be able to help them. In order to prepare for

college, I have created a report that exposes the financial aspect of college. It will show the

correlation between the average tuition of in-state public four year colleges and the average

amount of aid given to a full-time (4 years) student applying to those colleges. I chose this topic,

because 73% of students who go to college go to a public college, and for some, the only way

to do that is through student aid. This will allow students to look at the trend of the increase in

tuition and the student aid given out over the years and will help them predict what it will be like

when they are ready to go to college.

In these graphs I expect to see a direct relationship where both the average tuition and

student aid will increase over a 15 year period. I am predicting this because over time colleges

will raise their tuition as the number of applying students goes up from a direct result of the

incline in population growth. To keep up with the increase in tuition, the government will have to

lend greater sums of money to students who need financial aid.

In order to show the relationship of the average cost of tuition at an in-state four year

public school and the average amount of student aid given by the federal government, I created
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two graphs that show each variable differ over time (15 years). For the the student aid graph,

the regression equation is y= 554.23x - 1.1E+6. For the graph of the cost of tuition, the

regression equation is y= 351.26x - 698072. The data displayed in the graphs are linear

functions because both have a straight line and the variables are constant with their upward

development. The r^2 value for student aid graph is r^2= 0.9204 and the r^2 value for the cost

of tuition is r^2=0.938. These r^2 values represent a strong positive correlation because they

are close to +1 and because the r values are positive that means x and y are increasing. My

conjecture was very accurate and had predicted that over time as tuition went up so did student

aid. This model is qualified to predict the changes in tuition and student aid as long as the

population continues to go up.

This regression project between the average tuition of in-state public four year colleges

and the average amount of aid given to a full-time (4 years) student applying to those colleges,

show that the financial aspects of higher education are constantly increasing. Both graphs allow

students to roughly predict what their tuition will look like if they apply to an in-state public

school and to plan for their future in education monetarily. In the end, I know that, just like my

fellow classmates do, its extremely important to weigh your options early on and to analyze the

tuition and the possibility of getting student aid for a school.

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WORK CITED

"Tuition and Fees and Room and Board over Time, 1974-75 to 2014-15, Selected Years." -
Trends in Higher Education. College Board, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

"Statistics 2 - Correlation Coefficient and Coefficient of Determination." Statistics 2 - Correlation

Coefficient and Coefficient of Determination. MathBits, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

"Federal Aid." For Trends in Student Aid. College Board, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

"Back to School Statistics." National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. Department of
Education, n.d. Web. Oct.-Nov. 2015.