Because of high tuition costs at state and private universities, enrollments at community colleges have increased dramatically

Question:

Because of high tuition costs at state and private universities, enrollments at community colleges have increased dramatically in recent years. The following data show the enrollment (in thousands) for Jefferson Community College for the nine most recent years.

Year Enrollment (1000s)

1 ................................... 6.5

2 ................................... 8.1

3 ................................... 8.4

4 .................................. 10.2

5 .................................. 12.5

6 .................................. 13.3

7 .................................. 13.7

8 .................................. 17.2

9 .................................. 18.1

a. Construct a time series plot. What type of pattern exists in the data?

b. U se simple linear regression analysis to find the parameters for the line that minimizes MSE for this time series.