Financial Algebra Unit 9 - Paying for College & Statistical Analysis

Alternative Hypothesis (H1 or Ha)

The hypothesis you are testing that tries to disprove the null hypothesis

Association

A relationship between two variables

Categorical Data

A type of data that falls into labels or groups. For example, favorite color is a categorical variable that could include the responses blue, green, red, etc.

Causation

One event is the result of the occurrence of another event

Cluster Sampling

Divides items into groups that represent the population, then chooses one whole group as a sample

Continuous Data

A type of numerical data that can take on any value. This is often something that can be measured, like the temperature.

Control Group

The group in an experiment that receives no interventions

Correlation

The degree to which two or more quantities are linearly associated

Correlation Coefficient (r)

A number between -1 and 1 that indicates the degree of linear association between two variables

Cost Of Attendance

Total expense of going to college which may include tuition, room and board, fees, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, etc.

Discrete Data

A type of numerical data that can take on specific values. This is often something that can be counted, like the number of pets you own.

Expected Family Contribution (EFC)

An index number used to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid. This number results from the financial information you provide in your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. It's reported to you on your Student Aid Report (SAR).

Experiment

A study that manipulates members or the environment of a sample in order to demonstrate a causal relationship

Financial Aid Offer

The total amount of financial aid (federal and non-federal) a student is offered by a college, designed to help meet a student’s education costs

Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

A free online application that current or prospective college students can submit each year to determine their eligibility for financial aid

Grant

Student aid coming from the state or federal government, the school, or from private sources that does not need to be repaid

Hypothesis Testing

The practice of testing a hypothesis against a null hypothesis. The null hypothesis is only rejected if its probability falls below a predetermined significance level.

Net Price

The actual cost a student pays to attend a school, calculated as the sticker price minus grants and scholarships

Null Hypothesis (H0)

The assumption that there is no difference between your sample values and the population values

Numerical Data

A type of data that takes on numeric values. For example, height or number of siblings.

Observational Study

A study that observes or surveys members of a sample without trying to affect them

OLS Regression

The process of finding the line of best fit by finding the line that minimizes the sum of the squared residuals

p-value

A relationship between two variables

Parameter

Measurement values of a population

Parent PLUS Loan

A federal loan available to eligible parents of dependent undergraduate students to help pay for the cost of the student's education at participating schools

Population

A set of all items or events which are of interest for some question or experiment

Private Student Loan

A non-federal student loan made by a bank, credit union, or other entity, which sets the terms and conditions for the interest rate, grace period, and length of repayment

Promissory Note

Legal document in which you promise to repay your federal student loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to your lender

r2

A number between 0 and 1 that measures how well a model fits the data set

Residual

The distance between a data point and the line of best fit. Residual = actual value - predicted value

Sample

A selection of observations from a population

Sampling Error

The difference between the value of a sample statistic and the population parameter

Scholarship

A type of aid primarily awarded for academic merit (good grades) or for something you have accomplished (volunteer work, athletics, etc) that does not need to be repaid

Selection Bias

The portion of sampling error introduced based on how you choose a sample from a population

Simple Random Sampling

Assigns random numbers to each item, then selects the first n items up to the sample size

Statistic

Measurement values of a sample

Sticker Price

Total expense of going to college which may include tuition, room and board, fees, books and supplies, transportation, health insurance, etc. Also known as Cost of Attendance or a school's published price.

Stratified Sampling

Divides items into groups based on similarities, then samples from each group

Student Aid Report (SAR)

The report you receive after submitting your FAFSA. It contains your EFC, Pell Grant eligibility, whether you've been selected for verification, and all other information that colleges will use to determine your financial aid package.

Subsidized Loan

A federal student loan available to undergraduate students; the federal government pays interest on the loan as long as the student is in school at least part-time

Systematic Sampling

Leaves items ordered, then samples via a structured method from the whole group

Treatment Group

The group in an experiment that receives interventions to measure their effects

Unsubsidized loan

A federal student loan available to undergraduate and graduate students; the student is responsible for paying the interest during the time they are in school, which means they must pay that interest while studying or have it rolled into the principal amount of their loan

Value of College

The educational and lifetime advantages that a college offers you as compared to the net price paid