Exercise 2

1) How much would an in-state student expect to pay in total tuition, room and board for the 2016-2017 school year? How has that changed in the last year on a percentage change basis?

An Arkansas student would expect to pay $24,302 in total tuition and room and board for the 2016-17 school year, which is a 3.4 percent increase from the previous year.

A Missouri student would expect to pay $25,916 in total tuition and room and board for the 2016-17 school year, which is a 7.2 percent increase from the previous year.

2) How much would an out-of-state student expect to pay in total tuition, room and board for the 2016-2017 school year? How has that changed in the last year on a percentage change basis?How does that differ from in-state students?

An **out of state** Arkansas student would expect to pay $38,650 in tuition and room and board for the 2016-17 school year, which is a 5 percent increase from the previous year. Out-of-state students pay $14,348 more than in-state students and also had their total costs increase more than in-state students from the previous year, meaning as tuition increases, out-of-state students paid more than in-state between the year on a percentage basis.

A **out of state** Missouri student would expect to pay $42,290 in total tuition and room and board for the 2016-17 school year, which is a 6.1 **6.2** percent increase from the previous year. Out-of-state students pay $16,374 more than in-state students but paid less overall from the previous year on a percentage basis than in-state students, meaning Missouri charged in-state students more money than other in-state students from the previous year than out-of-state students were charged compared to other out-of-state students from the previous year.

4) Which category increased the most from the 2016-2017 school years? Raw change? Percent change?

The largest category increase from the school year for Arkansas students was the out-of-state tuition and fees category, which increased by 6.1 percent or by $1,342.

The largest category increase from the school year for Missouri students was in the other fees category, for both on and off campus. They increased by 27.1 percent or by $1,014.

5) Write a lead for a story based on your analysis.

Students who attend the University of Arkansas pay less than those who attend the University of Missouri, Columbia, for both in-state and out-of-state options, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics.

6) What other information and/or sources would help you finish this story?

It’s important to note that there was no data for room and board off campus and other off campus categories for Missouri in 2013-14. This could skew data and impact the analysis of the data set overall.

One thing I would like to know is the costs associated with running the universities. We have the data explaining the costs put on students but I’m interested to know where their money goes for each campus. Missouri might have a larger campus or have more amenities that their students pay for that Arkansas does not, which would explain the higher cost of attendance. It would also be prudent to check the financial aid packages offered by both schools to see if how that offsets the costs of attendance.