College
Tuition Reflection
In
this project the colleges I chose to analyze were a four year college and a two
year community college. The four year college I chose to analyze was Fort Lewis
College; a public, liberal arts based school located in Durango, Colorado. The
community college I chose to analyze was San Juan Community College, located in
Farmington, New Mexico.
The correlation coefficient for Fort Lewis was 0.9549. The
closest this number is to one the more linear the data is. The correlation
Coefficient I got for San Juan was 0.9194. I had to delete a few outliers to
get this for San Juan as well as Fort Lewis. It is important to have linear
data so that the numbers predicted for the future four years will be more
exact.
The average percent of increase over the past 10 years
for Fort Lewis is 1.05907 and is 1.11747 for San Juan. In 2000 the tuition for
San Juan was so cheap that they probably had to increase their tuition a lot
over the years to keep up with other colleges and rising prices for supplies.
If these colleges were private the percent of increase would probably be a lot
higher. The average anticipated percent increase over the next four years for
Fort Lewis is 1.0342 and for San Juan it is 1.05427.
Out of the data I used both San Juan and the Fort had the
highest percent of increase from the school years 2008-2009 to 2009-2010. For
the Fort the percent increase was 1.07848 and for San Juan it was 1.34375. I
think this has to do with the economy crashing in 2009.
Two years at San
Juan and two years at the Fort would cost 11292.81. That is about 10558.5
dollars less than what I would pay if I went to the Fort all four years. Then I
would have to pay 21851.34.
The repayment plan that I would like to use for either
Fort Lewis or San Juan is the Standard Fixed plan. I like this plan because the
colleges I chose are not very expensive so the monthly payments aren’t very
high for either. Also with this plan you pay less interest than with the
Standard Graduated plan. Something I did not like about the standard graduated
plan was that
Towards the end of the
10 years you are paying huge monthly amounts and it’s kind of a gamble because
you don’t know if you will have a better job that pays more by the end of the
10 years.
For Fort Lewis on the standard fixed plan I would pay
251.47 per month for 10 years. That’s 78.81 more than my starting amount for
the graduated plan, however in the 9th year of that plan I would be
paying 377.2 per month. That’s 125.73 more than the monthly payment of the
fixed plan. At 5-6 years I would pay 255.2 which is 3.75 dollars more and at
7-8 years I would pay 310.26 dollars which is 58.79 dollars more. With the
fixed plan you have to suffer a little bit in the beginning but if and when you
got a better job you could start saving and the payments would get easier and
easier, instead of harder. I would rather start out in debt than end up in
debt.
With the standard fixed plan you end up paying 8324.57 in
interest which along with the loan adds up to a 30175.91 total. This is quite a
bit of interest but with the standard graduated plan you pay 9954.5 in interest
which makes a 31805.84 total payment.
For San Juan I also think the standard fixed plan is a
better option. Paying 251.47 per month for the Fort in the beginning would be
difficult and you would probably need to save some money during college to help
pay for the first few years but with San Juan the payment is a lot more
conceivable, even on a lower salary. For the fixed plan I would pay 129.96 per
month which is almost half of what I would be paying on the standard fixed plan
with four years at the Fort. My total loan payment for the fixed plan with San
Juan is 15594.96 which means I would pay 4302.15 in interest. On the graduated
plan I would pay 16437.31 in total causing me to pay 5144.5 in interest. That
is 842.35 more interest than the fixed plan. With the graduated plan I would
start out paying 89.23, that is only 40.73 more than the
fixed plan. Also, by the 5th year I would be paying 131.89 dollars
which is 1.93 dollars more, by the 7th year 160.34 which is 30.38
more and finally by the 9th year 194.94 dollars which is 64.98
dollars more than the fixed plan. Overall, in my opinion the fixed plan is
better.
If I chose to attend San Juan for two years then Fort
Lewis for 2 years I would save 10558.5 dollars. Obviously that’s a lot of money
and it’s worth considering San Juan for the first two years. My monthly loan
payments in the standard fixed plan would be a lot cheaper. I would pay 121.51
dollars less every month if I went to San Juan for the first two years. Also I
would pay 4022.42 less in interest.
A lot of other things contribute to yearly costs in
college. For example books and gas to get up to the college assuming that I
will not be living on Campus. Also if the economy crashes again tuition rates
could go sky high or if the school is in debt or having financial issues.
Overall, these numbers don’t represent the exact tuition I will be paying
depending on different factors that affect tuition and cost.
This has taught me
that you will always pay more than you expect. I had no idea that tuition
actually increases every year and that if you take a loan out you will pay
thousands of dollars in interest. During this project I have learned so much
about Excel and how to use it efficiently. Math concepts that I learned and now
feel confident in are how to find future values using linear graphs, equations
and data. Also I learned how to find percent increase and analyze data better
as well as organize my data better. I gathered a lot of really important
information during this study. I now know a great estimate of what I will be
paying in college and this has given me a lot of information to reflect on
regarding which college I want to start out in. It’s also influenced my opinion
on student loans. They are payable as long as you have a strict financial plan
and can stick to it. I feel like people that struggle with loans is when they
are in the dark about how much they will actually have to pay and don’t know
how to budget effectively. I’m still not sure which school I want to start out
in but at least I know how much I’ll be paying when I do choose.
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