1. Introduction

We use the data from Statistics: UnLocking the Power of Data Lock, Lock, Lock Morgan, lock, and Lock (July,2020)

I propose the following 10 questions based on my own understandng of the data.

Analysis

We will explore the questions in detail

college = read.csv("https://www.lock5stat.com/datasets3e/CollegeScores4yr.csv")
head(college)
##                                  Name State     ID Main
## 1            Alabama A & M University    AL 100654    1
## 2 University of Alabama at Birmingham    AL 100663    1
## 3                  Amridge University    AL 100690    1
## 4 University of Alabama in Huntsville    AL 100706    1
## 5            Alabama State University    AL 100724    1
## 6           The University of Alabama    AL 100751    1
##                                                                Accred
## 1 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
## 2 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
## 3 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
## 4 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
## 5 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
## 6 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
##   MainDegree HighDegree Control    Region Locale Latitude Longitude AdmitRate
## 1          3          4  Public Southeast   City 34.78337 -86.56850    0.9027
## 2          3          4  Public Southeast   City 33.50570 -86.79935    0.9181
## 3          3          4 Private Southeast   City 32.36261 -86.17401        NA
## 4          3          4  Public Southeast   City 34.72456 -86.64045    0.8123
## 5          3          4  Public Southeast   City 32.36432 -86.29568    0.9787
## 6          3          4  Public Southeast   City 33.21187 -87.54598    0.5330
##   MidACT AvgSAT Online Enrollment White Black Hispanic Asian Other PartTime
## 1     18    929      0       4824   2.5  90.7      0.9   0.2   5.6      6.6
## 2     25   1195      0      12866  57.8  25.9      3.3   5.9   7.1     25.2
## 3     NA     NA      1        322   7.1  14.3      0.6   0.3  77.6     54.4
## 4     28   1322      0       6917  74.2  10.7      4.6   4.0   6.5     15.0
## 5     18    935      0       4189   1.5  93.8      1.0   0.3   3.5      7.7
## 6     28   1278      0      32387  78.5  10.1      4.7   1.2   5.6      7.9
##   NetPrice  Cost TuitionIn TuitonOut TuitionFTE InstructFTE FacSalary
## 1    15184 22886      9857     18236       9227        7298      6983
## 2    17535 24129      8328     19032      11612       17235     10640
## 3     9649 15080      6900      6900      14738        5265      3866
## 4    19986 22108     10280     21480       8727        9748      9391
## 5    12874 19413     11068     19396       9003        7983      7399
## 6    21973 28836     10780     28100      13574       10894     10016
##   FullTimeFac Pell CompRate Debt Female FirstGen MedIncome
## 1        71.3 71.0    23.96 1068   56.4     36.6      23.6
## 2        89.9 35.3    52.92 3755   63.9     34.1      34.5
## 3       100.0 74.2    18.18  109   64.9     51.3      15.0
## 4        64.6 27.7    48.62 1347   47.6     31.0      44.8
## 5        54.2 73.8    27.69 1294   61.3     34.3      22.1
## 6        74.0 18.0    67.87 6430   61.5     22.6      66.7

Q1: What is the mean of cost for all the colleges in the data?

## [1] 34277.31

The mean cost of colleges in the data is $34277.31

Q2 What is the correlation between cost and avergae SAT scores?

## [1] 0.5373884

The correlation between cost and average SAT scores is 0.5373884

Q3 What is the distribution of cost?

The distubution of cost is more so between $10,000-$30,000, peaking at about $25,000.

Q4 What is the typical enrollment size of a college using the data?

## [1] 1722

The typical enrollment size of a college using the data provided is 1722.

Q5 What is the average Net Price students pay after financial aid?

## [1] 19886.82

The average Net Price students pay after financial aid is $19,886.82.

Q6 How much do Faculty Salaries vary across colleges?

## [1] 2563.004

Faculty salaries can vary about $2563 across colleges from the data.

Q7 How are Completion Rates are distributed among colleges from the data?

Completion rates across the colleges in the data average around 50-60% which means about half the students at these colleges complete their degree at this college. Only a few colleges have very high or very low completion rates.

Q8 What is the median SAT score and ACT score among all colleges from this data?

## [1] 23
## [1] 1121

The average ACT score across colleges from this data is a 23. The average SAT score across colleges from this data is 1121.

Q9 How much variation exists in Net Tuition Revenue per Student (TuitionFTE)?

## [1] 7748.185

The variation in the Net tuition revenue per student within the data is 7748.185.

Q10 Is there a relationship between Average Student Debt and Net Price?

## [1] -0.1091143

The correlation between average student debt and net price is very weak. There is almost no linear relationship as is results as -0.1091143, so the higher net prices does not indicate higher student debt.

Summary

This analysis explored U.S. college data from Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data using descriptive statistics and correlations. The average cost of attendance was about $34,277, and the average net price after financial aid was $19,887. The median enrollment was 1,722 students, and faculty salaries varied by about $2,563. A moderate positive correlation (0.54) was found between college cost and average SAT scores, meaning more expensive schools tend to have higher SAT averages. However, student debt and net price showed a very weak relationship (–0.11). Overall, college costs and selectivity are somewhat related, but higher costs don’t necessarily lead to more student debt.