College Comparison

Prob & Stats 2

Vanesah Roberts, Grace Nanney,
Allison Lowery, riley rock
Abstract 2

Choosing the right college is difficult for

nearly everyone. There are many components
to the decision making process. People have to
consider acceptance rate, SAT percentile,
tuition, graduation rate, number of students,
public or private, and Ivy League or not.
This is our deep dive into the statistical side
of research to determine the best fitting
schools.
Methods 3

• Hypothesis Testing
• Regression Analysis
• Dummy Variables
• Mann-Whitney U Test
Regression Analysis
Acceptance Rate vs. Graduation Rate
- Multiple R: 0.84733077
- R Square: 0.71796943
- P-Values: 1.39E-43, 8.61E-15
Conclusion 6
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Acceptance rate and graduation rate are
not correlated

Due to the small P-value and Ha: Acceptance rate and graduation rate are
correlated
high regression statistics, we
reject the null hypothesis.
SAT Percentiles vs. Acceptance Rate 7

Multiple R: 0.06495227
R Square: 0.0042188
P-Value: 0.657478387
Conclusion 8
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: SAT percentiles and acceptance rate are
not correlated
Ha: SAT percentiles and acceptance rate are
Due to the high P value and the correlated
low regression statistics, we
retain the null hypothesis.
Number of students vs. tuition 9

Multiple R: 0.35733487
R Square: 0.12768821
P-Values: 1.47E-16, 0.010848093
Conclusion/Discussion 10
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Number of students and cost of tuition are
not correlated
Even though the values for the Ha: Number of students and cost of tuition are
multiple R and R squared are correlated
small and show that there is
nearly no correlation, the p-values
are both very small. From this we
reject the null hypothesis even
though the correlation is weak.
 11

Further Analysis Using Dummy Variables

Ivy League and Non-Ivy League Schools
Number of Students vs. Tuition
Multiple R: .5225286
R Square: .27303614 Red: Ivy League
Blue: Non-Ivy League
P-Values: 2.045E-13, .00359579,
.00499753
Though the R square value is small, the
small P-values indicate that there is a
statistically significant correlation when
we separate Ivy and Non-Ivy League
schools. Though the correlation is small,
there is an improvement when we
separate the types of schools
Acceptance Rate vs. Tuition 12

Multiple R: 0.726515443
R Square: 0.527824689
P-Values: 3.19E-16, 2.34E-09
Conclusion/Discussion 13
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: The acceptance rate and tuition are not
correlated
There is a moderate correlation Ha: The acceptance rate and tuition are
due to the R squared value being correlated
around .5. Due to the small
p-value we decided to reject the
null even though there is only
moderate correlation.
 14

Further Analysis Using Dummy Variables

Public and Private Schools Acceptance Rate Vs. Tuition
Multiple R: .92900201 Red: Private
R Square: .86304474 Blue: Public
P-Values: 2.0365E-35, 1.2454E-6,
3.1812E-14
The R square value is moderately high,
and with small p-values, we are able to
to determine that there is a statistically
significant difference between public and
private schools, and that the correlation
improves when we make this separation
 15

Summary of Regression
After analyzing our regression data, we can see that acceptance rate and
graduation rate have an inverse relationship. This suggests that colleges who take
in a higher percent of applicants lack the resources to support that many students
for success. There is a weak correlation between the number of students and
tuition rate, which indicates that as there are more students, the tuition is lower.
When we separate Ivy League schools from the data, we see that it follows the
same general trend, but it is inherently more expensive. Lastly, a higher acceptance
rate meant a lower tuition rate, with a distinction between private and public
colleges, indicating that as schools accept more students, the amount that each
student pays goes down. Additionally, we found no relationship between SAT
percentile and acceptance rate, which shows that colleges are not concerned about
SAT scores anymore as a measure of quality for applicants
 16

Mann-Whitney U Test
Public vs. private: Acceptance Rate 17
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Median Difference = 0
Calculations
Z-score -3.78947 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
P-value 0.00016
Conclusions
Due to the small P-value we reject
the null hypothesis and retain the
alternative hypothesis that the
median difference is not zero.
Public vs. private: Acceptance Rate Discussion 18

Average public rate: 71%

Average private rate: 32%

The acceptance rate for public schools is significantly higher

than private schools

Why might this be?

Public vs. private: graduation rate 19
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Median Difference = 0
Calculations
Z-score 3.70479 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
P-value 0.00022
Conclusions
Reject the null and retain the
alternative due to the small
p-value. The median difference is
not zero.
Public vs. private: graduation rate Discussion 20

Average public rate 71.46%

Average private rate 87.17%

Private schools have a statistically higher graduation rate than

public schools

Why might this be?

Public vs. private: tuition rate 21
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Median Difference = 0
Calculations
Z-score 5.44075 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
P-value <0.00001
Conclusions
Due to the small p-value we
decided to reject the null and
retain the alternative hypothesis
that the median difference is not
zero.
Public vs. private: tuition rate Discussion 22

Average public rate: $15,833

Average private rate: $50,317

It is more expensive to attend a private school than a public school.

Why might this be?

Public vs. private: number of students 23
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Median Difference = 0
Calculations
Z-score -3.21788 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
P-value 0.00128
Conclusions
Reject null due to small p-value
Median difference is not zero.
Public vs. private: number of students Discussion 24

Average public rate: 28,143 full time students

Average private rate: 13,057 full time student

Public colleges have more full time students on average than

private schools.

Why might this be?

Public vs. Private: SAT score percentiles 25
HYPOTHESIS:
Ho: Median Difference = 0
Calculations
Z-score -0.7833 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
P-value 0.4354
Conclusions
Due to a high p-value we retain
the null hypothesis that the
difference in the median is zero.
Public vs. private: SAT score percentile Discussion 26

Average public rate 67%

Average private rate 65%

Although there is technically a difference between the average

SAT score percentiles, they were deemed to not be statistically
significant, so there is no difference between SAT score
percentiles.

Why might this be?

Summary of Mann-Whitney Public vs. Private: 27

In conclusion to our research of public and private universities, we

found that it may be easier to be accepted and the tuition is lower in a
public university, possibly because they are government funded. On the
other hand, private universities are funded on endowments and student
tuition fees, making their acceptance rates lower and their tuition
higher.
We also found that private universities may have a higher graduation
rate because they have a lower amount of students enrolled. This would
make for smaller class sizes and more attentiveness from a professor.
SAT percentiles were deemed to be insignificant between private and
public schools, possibly because there is less emphasis on SAT
performance in recent years
Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: acceptance rate 28

HYPOTHESIS:
Calculations Ho: Median Difference = 0
Z-score 3.78418
P-value 0.00016 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
Conclusion
Due to the small p-value we reject
the null hypothesis and retain the
alternative hypothesis that the
median difference is not zero.
Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: acceptance rate Discussion 29

Average Ivy League rate: 8%

Average Non-Ivy League rate: 50%

The average acceptance rate is significantly lower for Ivy League

schools than Non-Ivy League schools.

Why might this be?

Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: graduation rate 30

HYPOTHESIS:
Calculations Ho: Median Difference = 0
Z-score -3.916
P-value 0.00008 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
Conclusion
Due to the small p-value we reject
the null hypothesis and retain the
alternative hypothesis that the
median difference is not zero.
Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: graduation rate Discussion 31

Average Ivy League rate: 96%

Average Non-Ivy League rate: 80%

Ivy League schools have a statistically higher graduation rate than

Non-Ivy League schools.

Why might this be?

Ivy league vs. non ivy league: tuition rate 32

HYPOTHESIS:
Calculations Ho: Median Difference = 0
Z-score -3.13584
P-value 0.00168 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
Conclusion
Since we have a small p-value we
decided to reject the null and
retain the alternative hypothesis
that the median difference is not
zero.
Ivy league vs. non ivy league: tuition rate Discussion 33

Average Ivy League rate: $55,315

Average Non-Ivy League rate: $37,049

It is on average more expensive to attend an Ivy League school than

a Non-Ivy League school.

Why might this be?

Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: Number of students 34

HYPOTHESIS:
Calculations Ho: Median Difference = 0
Z-score -0.56895
P-value 0.56868 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
Conclusion
Due to a high p-value we have
retained the null hypothesis that
the median difference is zero.
Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: Number of students Discussion 35
Average Ivy League rate: 18,356 full time students
Average Non-Ivy League rate: 17,436 full time student

Although there is technically a difference between the average

number of full time students in Ivy League and Non-Ivy League
schools, the difference is not statistically significant, so the
number of students is considered to be the same.

Why might this be?

Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: SAT percentiles 36

HYPOTHESIS:
Calculations Ho: Median Difference = 0
Z-score 0.21073
P-value 0.83366 Ha: Median Difference ≠ 0
Conclusion
Due to the high p-value we decided to
retain the null hypothesis that the
median difference is zero.
Ivy league vs. non-ivy league: SAT percentiles Discussion 37

Average Ivy League rate: 68%

Average Non-Ivy League rate: 65%

Although there is technically a difference between the average

SAT score percentiles, they were deemed to not be statistically
significant, so there is essentially no difference between SAT
score percentiles.

Why might this be?

Summary of Mann-Whitney Ivy vs. Non-Ivy: 38
After analysing the data for Ivy League vs. Non-Ivy League we have come to a
conclusion that it is harder to get accepted into an Ivy League school because
they have a standard to live up to both academically and athletically.
The graduation rate for Ivy League students is higher because they have
smaller class sizes and more resources to success than a Non-Ivy school.
Ivy League schools have a higher tuition because they only get endowment
scholarships and student tuition fees as funding. Most Non-Ivy schools get
government funding making their tuition lower.
The number of students are close in range to each other because some Ivy
league schools are larger than others.
SAT percentiles were deemed to be insignificant between Ivy League and
Non-Ivy schools, possibly because there is less emphasis on SAT performance
in recent years
 Summary of conclusions 39

Regression Ivy League vs. Non-Ivy League

Acceptance vs. Graduation (correlate) (reject null) Acceptance (reject null)(Ivy is harder)
Students vs. Tuition (correlate) (reject null) Graduation (reject null) (Ivy is higher)
Acceptance vs. Tuition (correlate) (reject null) Tuition (reject null) (Ivy is higher)
SAT vs. Acceptance (not correlate) (retain null) Students (retain null) (no difference)
Mann-Whitney U Test SAT (retain null) (no difference)
Public vs. Private
Acceptance (reject null) (less difficult for public)
Graduation (reject null) (higher for private)
Tuition (reject null) (less expensive for public)
Students (reject null) (more students in public)
SAT (retain null) (No difference)
Resources: 40

Seton Hill University. Data USA. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2022, from

https://datausa.io/profile/university/seton-hill-university?compare=harvar

d-university

Social Science Statistics. (2022). Mann-Whitney U Test Calculator. Social

Science Statistics. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from

https://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/mannwhitney/